Emperors Errands
by GiftFromTheSkies
Summary: Childhood tragedies and a new mission is all Annabeth Chase needs to keep her up at night. When a spike in murders across America sends Annabeth and her astonishing handsome partner, Percy Jackson, on a wild goose chase of corrupt memories, she is forced to confront a not so friendly face from her past. (Percabeth, Human AU.)
1. Chapter 1: Eyes Of The Ocean

**Emperors Errands**

 **DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE CHARACTERS. ALL RIGHTS TO RICK RIORDAN WHO CREATED THE CHARACTERS.**

 **Rated: T (This chapter may disturb or be sensitive to some viewers. Just a warning.)**

 **Main Pairing: Percy/Annabeth**

 **Summary:**  
Childhood tragedies and a new mission is all Annabeth Chase needs to keep her up at night. When a spike in murders across America sends Annabeth and her astonishing handsome partner, Percy Jackson, on a wild goose chase of corrupt memories, she is forced to confront a not so friendly face from her past. (Percabeth, Human AU.)

 **TAGS:  
** Adventure, romance, crime, action, secret agent, Percy, Annabeth, spy, spies.

 **IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE!  
** I live in New Zealand, therefore some words in this story may be spelt differently to how you would spell it. (Example: favourite = British English, favorite = American English.) I will be using British English.

* * *

 **Annabeth's P.O.V  
** ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Murder, terrorists, attacks, more murder.

Gods, is there nothing else more important to document about on the news? I scrolled through the channels on the television. America is so dramatic nowadays. How did good news ever become the minority? It really makes you think how much the world has changed. For better or for worst, I'm still not quite sure.

I slumped back in my couch turning the television off and just listening to the birds outside, tweeting in harmony. Peace I thought to myself as I revelled in relaxation. I felt the breeze brush against my skin from the window I had left open opposite me.

I closed my eyes. I could _so_ get use to this. No problem. How great it felt to be stress free for once. No more missions, fighting and drama for a whole entire month. That sounded like the perfect vacation for an active agent like myself.

A grumble erupted in my stomach. I huffed in frustration, I had just eaten an hour ago yet my stomach was still unsatisfied? My eyes fluttered open as I set my feet on the ground.

I let a rather annoyed groan slip from my lips. I carried myself to the kitchen where my hands found the fridge rather quickly. Just as I reached to get some leftover lasagne, my phone rang.

I peered down at my phone, a frown forming on my face. Wait… Why was my phone ringing? I didn't really have much friends, it's the catch that comes with being a _secret agent_. Secret agent... Gods, I hope it isn't another mission. I had just started my mini holiday. The least they can do for me is give me a break. Sure I love my job, the adventure, the adrenaline and hype. But I needed to relax once in a while!

My feet led me to the other side of the kitchen where my mobile was charging. I hesitated before reaching out to unplug it. I checked the dialler, biting my lip and begging for it to be some stupid advertisement. When my eyes found the name of the caller my hopes were crushed. It was Chiron. Well, that cut my holiday short. He probably wants to send me on another mission. I hovered my finger over the green button, stealing an extra second before answering.

"Hello," I said with an unintentional groan.

"Annabeth, what a lovely day we're having today, aren't we?" Chiron spoke.

"Yes, excellent," I huffed knowing he was trying to relax me before spilling the beans. I'd picked up on his antics over the years I'd known him.

Chiron cleared his throat before continuing. "I apologize in advance-" mission. My theories were correct, he was going to send me on another _mission_. "But there has been some rather, _unpleasant_ series of events occurring recently."

"It's okay, Chiron. I understand," I spoke up putting on my cherry tone. But the truth was, I didn't understand. Why did he have to choose me? Out of a couple thousand others that would happily volunteer to do the job to earn extra money. It must be something important. "I wasn't planning on doing anything anyway," I lied.

"Excellent. Always lovely to hear your enthusiasm," Proof that I'm great at keeping my emotions in check. "If you could be at base tomorrow around 8:00am, that would be terrific." 8:00? Normally Chiron would give me an extra hour. Something was off…

"Yep," I said popping the 'p'. "I'll see you then Chiron, have a good afternoon."

"Alright, you too," he replied hanging up.

I groaned putting my phone down. Relaxation was never possible with my job anyway. Who was I to think the world would let me stay at home on my couch for a week watching the television and stuffing my face with popcorn?

I glanced over to where I had been sitting. I bet the next time I so much as _touch_ that couch will be in two months. I don't even know why I bought this small cottage when I'm rarely ever home. I sighed, I wonder what the problem will be. Was someone murdered? A threat? Maybe an announcement? No that wouldn't make sense, Chiron sounded sad and distressed. Maybe it wasn't a good announcement…

I closed my eyes and braced for the oncoming headache my clouded thoughts caused. Opening them, I turned and reached for a clean glass sitting on the counter. I filled it up all the while thinking of the possibilities that required my presence.

I looked around my small little cottage. I might be leaving to deal with a situation that is in another state. If so, I was going to miss my small little cottage. When I first saw it, I instantly fell in love with the architecture. I would be lying if I said being a secret agent was my dream. It never was, while I was still in school I would scoff at children who dreamed of being one. I'd read all the articles about why being an agent was dangerous and stupid. Thus, architecture had always been my passion and still is. However I don't see much of a future for it now. Yet here I am, going against what I'd believed. But when Chiron came to me on that street that on night…

I shivered at the thought; I didn't want to even think of _that_ right now. I have enough drama to deal with. I glanced over at the clock that hung above my hallway table. 4:28pm. I yawned, just imagining laying down in my soft bed wrapped in the silky blankets made me feel warm. I guess it couldn't hurt to have a nap. I needed to clean my head of its thoughts and catch up on sleep anyway. With that, I turned and made my way to my bedroom for a nice long nap.

* * *

Here we go, the first words that popped into my mind when the building came into view. After yesterday I felt a lot better, I had been isolated in my cottage for the past couple of days revelling in relaxation going unbeknownst to the fact I was isolating myself. Yesterday, I had been cooped up thinking of all the problems that could've occurred. Until that beautiful nap that seemed to clear my head, I felt like I was walking on sunshine, even if that may seem a bit too optimistic for my liking.

I gathered my beige bag before jumping out of the cab I had caught. I slung the bag over my shoulder as I looked up at the building that I had become rather familiar with. I stood there for a minute watching as the taxi drove off without me. Taking a moment to analyse the environment, I noticed that everyone walking down the street were dressed rather formally. Stealing a quick look at my own clothing, I made a quick comparison of my own outfit with the outfits others were wearing. I was wearing a white blouse under my rather dark blazer. Trousers occupied my legs and to top it off I was wearing very light makeup just to look presentable. My hair was tied up to keep my curls from forming a curtain across my face.

I heard an annoyed grumble coming from behind me. I turned my head. Why was that guy grumbling at me? I stood still, glaring him down as he brushed past me mumbling I was a 'slow walker'. Oh, I had been too caught up in my thoughts that I was standing on the sidewalk looking like an idiot. With that I continued walking to the building, this time with a faster pace.

When I had entered I could smell the essence of lemons. I smiled; I had always been entranced by the smell of lemons, it just had a nice aroma. It's almost like the staff had planned to lift my spirits today. I proceeded to walk to the receptionist waiting behind the desk.

"Annabelle Chay, appointment with Chiron," I said politely when my turn to talk to the receptionist came. Funny, I still felt uncomfortable and nervous when I said my undercover name. It's not like I had anything to hide, it just felt unnatural with a fake name falling from my lips. Of course we only had these fake names for personal security. Even inside headquarters, we still had to use our false name just to be cautious. I watched as she typed on her keyboard searching for details of my appointment. She wheeled her chair over to where her phone was to confirm with Chiron of the meeting. Once she hung up she gave me a toothy smile.

"Chiron's waiting for you in room 409," she spoke, wheeling back to the front desk and handing me a pass to prove I was here legally if I was questioned.

I nodded to show my comprehension, tucked the pass into my bag and proceeded to walk toward the elevators. I pressed the button with the arrow facing up and waited, clutching my bag. I unconsciously started to tap my foot against the marble floor. Headquarters was large to say the least, it felt like a stadium on the inside. The building was styled by architectural geniuses. So as fancy as it looked, it was immensely secure, more protected than a bank I'd say. I watched as businessmen and women weaved through each other carrying suitcases with stern looks thrown across their faces.

 _Ding._

I climbed into the elevator, selecting level four where my appointment was being held. I watched as the elevator doors started closing. I sighed impatiently while I waited. ADHD did not help with waiting, much less with my nerves hanging on my shoulders. I stared at the doors, just challenging them to finish doing their job. I was considering exiting the elevator to take another one when suddenly I heard a desperate shout.

I didn't jump; I was trained to keep shock at bay when surprised. I looked up to see a boy weaving and clawing through crowds trying desperately to reach my elevator. I knitted my eyebrows in confusion. He stuck out like a sore thumb as he weaved and occasionally bumped into a few people who didn't look too happy about. He ran into the elevator thanking me for waiting. Which to be perfectly honest, I wasn't waiting for him at all, but the doors thought otherwise.

I looked up at him studying his features. He had sea-green eyes that reminded me of the ocean on a warm summer's day. I took note of his tousled raven hair, which was slightly drooping over his forehead from running. He was wearing a zinc white blouse with a semi-formal black jacket thrown over it and some dark navy blue jeans that were fading at the knees. He had a nice pair of black boots with laces that ended just under his jeans and a nice dark tie to top it off. His outfit was not full blown formal but it looked like he had tried to put some effort in.

He looked at me puffing as if it was a real effort to run across a room. He grinned at me, stuck his hand out and announced, "Percy Jackson." I looked down at his hand. _Wow he had really tanned hands. Wait, why is he showing me his hand?_ I slowly looked back at him with a questioning gaze. He continued "my name," he chuckled.

Oh.

Had I been that oblivious? Apparently so, to point out the obvious. Did I mention how I _hate_ it when people correct me? So why wasn't I already going at his throat? I bet this guy is just trying to play with my emotions. I sent him my best poker face.

He hesitantly looked away towards the _oh so stupid_ elevator doors which by now had closed and was slowly taking us up to level four. My vision kept focused on his retreating gaze. Was that a tint of pink on his checks? Why was he wearing women's makeup? Or is that a blush… I cringed inwardly at that thought. He was probably just tired from the run, an action clearly indicating he didn't visit the gym often. But taking a sneak peak at his figure, he was rather toned which sent me into another fit of questions.

 _Ding._

The elevator alerted, announcing its success in making it to the correct destination. I simply looked back at the green eyed man. I nodded in acknowledgment before exiting the lift. I continued walking down a hallway leading to my designated room. Just as I reached the room, I felt a presence behind me. I sighed and turned around.

"What." I didn't mean for it to come out harshly, however I wasn't in the mood to put up with any problems.

"This is kind of my room too," Percy announced cautiously. His hand retreated to scratch his neck.

I shook my head. _He_ must have the wrong room. Chiron had called me, and he hadn't mentioned anything about a group of people joining us. I faced him putting my hands on my hips.

"Look, it's clear you have mistaken your room number. If you want, I could call reception quickly to sort out your problems. How does that sound?" I put politely, squeezing the strap of my bag.

He stared at me in shock as if he couldn't believe what I was saying. He let out a frustrated huff then proceeded to reach behind me and open the door. I hastily turned around facing the desk inside and put on my best fake smile.

"Chiron," I greeted cheerfully and walked in, failing to acknowledge Percy's subtle eye roll.

"Annabeth, Percy, lovely to see you two agents have already been acquainted," he spoke calmly.

"We sure have been acquainted," Percy smiled broadly and sat down beside me. He sure has a tongue, I thought bitterly. I joined him, plopping my butt down beside him with a neat posture and small smile.

Chiron stood, "would either of you like some coffee?"

"Yes please," I nodded eagerly, whilst Percy shook his head explaining how he already had some caffeine this morning.

"Well," Chiron started walking over to the coffee maker. "I'm sure you both have an idea as to why you were called in today," he asked looking up from the coffee machine. A deafening silence filled the room. We both knew the answer to that question or at least suspected a possible answer.

"Chiron, you know I hate the suspense," Percy joked trying to lighten up the mood, although I could feel his hesitance in his laugh.

"Well I better tell you immediately then," Chiron produced a crinkled smile in amusement. "Well, as I am sure you both know, murders are a common crime here in America." He grabbed his freshly made latte and set it down on his side of the desk.

We nodded as he shifted his vision under the table and placed a brown paper file full of documents on the desk. Being the curious person I am, I immediately dug into the file. As I was flipping through the file, my eyes landed on a certain page, a certain picture. Chiron looked over to see what I was staring at as well as Percy.

"Ah, it's as if you can predict what I'm up to," Chiron laughed to himself.

"Chiron what's – what's this?" my voice cracked looking down at the picture. I mentally cursed myself for slipping up on the last couple words.

Chiron sighed in discomfort. "Annabeth, I know – "

"Know what?" My eyes whipped up, piercing into Chiron's soft ones. "Knew how much he hurt me? How could you." I felt my eyes watering but I refused to let a tear fall. I wasn't weak, and I was certainly not going to look like it in front of them. "You promised me I'd be far away from him," my voice broke. I subconsciously let a tear fall and hastily wiped it away. Just picturing his face again made me feel horrible.

"Annabeth," Chiron spoke up calmly. "I know he hurt you and I don't intend on that happening again. But please, he needs you. You're the only one that can give him a chance." I bit my tongue before I could point a finger at Percy and accuse him of being useless if _I am_ the only chance he has.

I shook my head. "I gave him one too many chances. He failed me, again, again and again," slamming my hands repeatedly on the desk for emphasise. Gods, I was getting a headache trying to hold back all my ongoing emotions. "And I refuse to be pulled back into that drama," I directed at Chiron rather harshly clenching my jaw.

A knock sounded on the door.

"Come in," Chiron voiced, whilst I swiped my hands of the desk trying to act civilized.

Everyone kept quiet, acting as if nothing had happened. The door slowly creaked open, revealing a young small petit woman with short straight chestnut hair. Chiron nodded relaxing back into his chair, all while making a come here motion with his fingers. She gave all of us worried glances before proceeding further into the room after closing the door behind her.

"I heard yelling and screaming – and – and loud slamming noises," she explained using hand gestures to be more dramatic.

I can't stand it when people over react. She was the perfect example of the word overdramatic. The way she was describing it was as if we were monkeys jumping on the furniture and throwing a party, no offence to all the monkeys out there. I gave her a flat smile and spoke up.

"I'm sorry, it must have been another room," I said politely.

"No, I have excellent hearing and it was one-hundred percent-ly coming from this room."

I scrunched my nose up in disgust. Gods I can't handle it when people don't use proper grammar. This girl was trying to get on my nerves. She was like a stereotypical dumb blonde, minus her brown hair and she matches the title. Which was surprising since dumb blondes did not exist in reality. Secondly, she was doubting me, something no person should _ever_ do. I was about to open my mouth when Mr. Genius next to me beat me to it. That was sarcasm if you hadn't noticed.

"Yeah, we're fine. But it was nice of you to check on us. We all make mistakes. To be honest, I make mistakes all the time," Percy finished his mini 'speech' grinning. I could already point out many flaws in every word that just came out of his mouth.

She giggled in response, batting her eyelashes. "Yeah, sorry," she replied winking at him before exiting through the door. I inwardly gagged at the two's exchange.

Only until the click the door made when it closed did all my thoughts come rushing back to me at once. How could she just flirt with him in front of her boss Chiron so obviously? How did become Chiron's assistant in the first place? And what is with her limited vocabulary? Who even says two words in reply after previously defending herself? And most importantly did Percy even notice her flirting? I mean this is a serious business meeting and if he was going to use that opportunity to flirt with girls… Well he _technically_ wasn't flirting it was her. Why was I even questioning her and Percy's relationship? I mean it was clear they hadn't met befo-

"Annabeth," I jumped in my spot, glaring at Percy.

"What," I snapped back at him. He looked pretty taken aback.

"I'm sorry, you were just zoning out," he replied furrowing his eyebrows together, plastering a smirk across his face.

I huffed folding my arms across my chest looking at the opposite wall at the paintings. Gods, had I been staring at him? How long was I – no, I better stop before I zone out again. With that I looked back up to Chiron accepting my fate of going on an inevitable mission.

"Chiron, mission," I changed the topic.

Chiron huffed and a serious expression ate away his usual crinkled smile. "As you may or may have not seen on the news, there has been a rather suspicious spike in murders."

As he spoke, I assessed all the possibilities. Did that mean that another gang or terrorist attack was on the way? My fingers started to fiddle in my lap and I unconsciously bit my lip, impatiently waiting for details. My eyebrows scrunched together in annoyance as I heard Percy's finger tapping on the desk.

Chiron continued. "We are not sure who or what is causing this, but we've found some evidence I'd like you to look into." He reached for the file in front of me and flipped it around so it faced himself. "Now I will tell you what you are about to see is a bit, well," Chiron's face seized up with uncertainty. He pulled out a picture of something pale covered by a white sheet from the file and passed it to me.

I analysed the picture in my hand. It was a child, a girl. Her skin was tainted a sickly pale and her greasy black hair stuck to the nape of her neck. Her lips were swollen and practically colourless. She lay on what must have been an assessment table. The type's you see in hospitals. Half of her body was covered by a zinc white sheet. The girl couldn't be any older than ten. The hair of my neck twitched up when I saw her torn throat, quite literally. It looked like a tiger had cut her throat open. Three deep lines covered her neck from the top of her jaw to the bottom of her collarbone. Of course you could still see blood and flesh, however it was more neat because it must have been cleaned. By looking at the shredded skin, a wave of nausea hit my system. I was looking at a corpse of a young girl who must have been tragically killed by an animal.

I almost jumped out of my seat when I felt someone breathe down my neck. A strand of Percy's hair tickled my jaw as he stuck his head over my shoulder peering down at the picture. In my peripheral vision, I saw him cringe with pity and disgust. I don't blame him, it's not very nice to see a mangled corpse like this one, especially when the victim is someone young and innocent. She died in a savagely manner and of top of that, she was way too young.

"Who is that?" Percy asked, regaining his posture.

Chiron's jaw clenched. "Amelia Jones. Age nine, died from an attack of the unknown."

I started putting the pieces together in my head. There is a spike in murders, and Amelia must have been a victim of it. The problem being no one knew the cause of the recent deaths. All we had was the brutality of the bodies to estimate what could have inflicted the death of these people. My guess was that Chiron wanted us to investigate exactly that. However I still didn't understand how the blonde haired man in the other picture tied to this. Setting my focus back on Chiron, I mentally prepared for the daunting words I knew were yet to come.

"We have – " Chiron took a hesitant breath, "suspicions, to say the least."

Chiron met my eyes for an awkward moment. It was as if he could see my conflicted thoughts by simply looking into my irises and through to my soul.

"You mean you suspect Luke Castellan to be responsible?" I pointed out.

"Annabeth, you don't know what we know," Chiron's voice held sympathy but I could tell he was trying to put it as lightly as possible.

"Oh yeah?" I cocked an eyebrow, "and what is it exactly that I do not know?" I tilted my head to the side, a challenge evident on my face.

His face twisted between a fake smile and a deer caught in the headlights. He hadn't thought of an answer to that question. "The girl is not the only victim. Luke…"

My eyes widened and my blood rushed to my face. I couldn't feel or move any of my limbs; my body has turned itself against me. I couldn't comprehend what Chiron was telling going to tell me. Was he referring to Luke being… dead? It felt as if a scorching liquid was being poured down my spine and spreading down to my fingertips.

"What! What about Luke?!" I demanded as I held back water building in my tear duct and bit down on my bottom lip.

Chiron gave up on keeping me in suspense. "Luke's mother was murdered the same way as the girl."

Guilt came crashing down upon me. I felt relief seize up my fists. I was mildly disgusted at myself, I'd never been more thankful for someone's death. His mother of all people had been murdered and here I sat with a smile knowing it wasn't a person I had built an attachment to. How selfish did that sound? Other people probably cared about her and here I was thanking any and every God up there that it was her and not Luke.

I heard Percy shifting in his seat beside me, his eyes piercing into the side of my head. I scolded myself; I had completely forgotten he was sitting there watching my and Chiron's exchange. What would he think of me now? I swallowed the thought of being judged by someone who is going to be by my side for a while. It would not be wise to build a bad impression. The thought of Percy accusing me to be a crazy psychopath who wishes death upon people crossed my mind and made me cringe.

Percy butted in. "Who is this 'Luke' may I ask?" Percy questioned with a frown. His eyes darted to Chiron's then mine twice.

Chiron cleared his throat instead of answering. However, Percy still held his stare on Chiron, determined to get an answer out of him. He looked at the ceiling to avoid his stare before finally giving up with a sigh. "I believe it is not my place to inform you about Annabeth's relationship with that man. I can tell you from a professional point of view to inform you but that'll be all."

I cringed; I didn't know what to think of that. I couldn't decide how to feel. Happy, that he didn't spill my complicated relationship with Luke to my new co-worker, embarrassed that Chiron said it as if I was in a romantic relationship with Luke, or frustrated that I'd have to spill my guts to Percy later. A deep blush set in as I felt my blood rush to my face. A curl from my head fell as I had been too distracted trailing my eyes around the pattern of the wooden desk. I mentally high-fived myself because it covered my tinted cheeks.

Percy responded with a brief nod. "So what can you tell me?"

Chiron cleared his throat and slid the picture of Luke that I hadn't realised was under my fingertips across the desk to Percy. Percy muttered thanks and squinted his eyes at the boy's blond hair. I couldn't help but zone out and stare at the skyscrapers outside the window while the men conversed basic information about Luke, such as where he was born, his family, wealth and appearance. Silver buildings and clouds flourished in dense cities like this because they were practically the only thing to look at a part from the crowds that flock the crossings. How high we were I couldn't quite calculate considering I couldn't even see the ground. A certain biography, well more of a certain someone caught my attention when I grew bored and decided to flick through the pages of the file. I was on the fifth or sixth line when I was interrupted.

"Annabeth?"

A strangled noise from the back of my throat came in response as I looked to Percy. He cocked an eyebrow and chuckled in amusement at my pretty stupid reply. I could safely say that I could not tell if my face had gone pale or bright red. I bit my tongue and glanced at Chiron, a silent plea was present in my eyes. His eyes crinkled in a crooked smile before falling to it's usually simple one.

"Well I think that will be all for today. There will be an event coming up I would like both of you to attend but I will contact you later with that information." Chiron smiled. "Everything else you need to know is in that folder," he said pointing to the folder in front of me. "If you have any questions just call or visit; and don't forget to report to us on every move or choice you make, we need to be informed for your safety." He paused, "but I'm sure you already knew that didn't you Annabeth?" he gazed at me knowingly.

I smiled back at him. How could I stay mad at Chiron? He was like a father figure to me, he knew how I didn't like to beat around the bush but get straight to the point. "Exactly, but I do have a quick question," I bit my lip glancing over at Percy beside me. "Why is he here?" I questioned nervously.

"Percy will be your partner. You both have the skills and quality to take hold of this one," he stated nonchalantly. "I reckon you both will get along just fine."

I nodded ignoring his last statement. "So we can stay at our own residents while on this mission, right?" I asked already knowing the answer. Obviously yes, I always reside there even on missions. Apart from that one time, but that was an exception.

"Actually you'll both be staying in this nice – " He flipped a couple of pages from the file in front of me, "villa located slightly out back from the city. But not too far away, you can easily drive there within fifteen or so minutes."

Living with a stranger AND on top of that, a guy? That's something I don't think I'll be capable of doing. He could be messy, might not clean up after himself, _or_ he might be clean. That'd be good. But there are more cons to weigh – _Stop. You're doing it again Annabeth! Pull yourself together and do this another time_ , my inner self scolded. I decided to listen to it. I could do with not getting in drama for a little bit. Even though it might only be for five minutes. Whatever.

Percy must have signalled for Chiron to continue because he piped up. "Alright then," he grinned. "I expect to hear from you two by tomorrow, okay?" he chirped happily. Percy grinned, nodding a bit too quickly, clearly wanting to get out of this situation as much as I did.

We stood up from our seats to shake hands and say goodbye. With that, Percy and I exited the room into the hallway. There was awkward silence for a minute or two before Percy spoke up.

"So, Annabeth," he chided sarcastically. "Thanks for telling me your name earlier." More Sarcasm.

"Look, I'm sorry. I tend to keep my walls up to strangers. Believe it or not, before you came into that elevator I didn't know you," my voice dripped with sarcasm. "I wouldn't call you a stranger now though, more of an acquaintance because of the meeting. Don't let that go to your ego." Pause. I sent him a pointed look. "Do not expect me to say that again," I said crossing my arms across my chest then walking down the hallway. I could hear him trotting to catch up.

He chuckled walking beside me. "Wouldn't plan on it, partner," he winked playfully. His stride was rather close to me so my feet maneuvered slightly to the right to reform my personal bubble. He noticed my actions and frowned slightly before noticing that he was practically brushing my shoulder. Quickly noticing this he repositioned his steps with a huff as if I was being petty. He caught my eye when I looked up at him and he simply just shrugged.

"So, what are you Perseus Jackson?" He tilted his head and rose an eyebrow, something I noted that he did often enough for me to notice. He averted his gaze to the ground, a thoughtful expression was present on his face.

"I am going to pretend that you did not use my full name and to answer your question," he stopped and crossed his arms over his chest, "I'm many things."

What was that even supposed to mean? "I was leaning for a more specific answer…" I added, brushing my fallen curls behind my ear.

He shrugged and made his way to the end of the hallway to the elevator we had ascended in. He stood and turned his head looking me dead in my eye. "Just look in my biography. You know, the document you were peeping at earlier." With that he turned on his heel and disappeared behind the closing doors, leaving me alone in the airy hall.

* * *

I stared intently at the paper. I grabbed the mug beside me and sipped my instant coffee. My eyes trailed across each word, occasionally scanning the words multiple times just to be sure. I didn't want to believe it, no matter how many clues pointed at him. My childhood friend, crush, and brother figure could be a murderer? Shivers ran down my spine and my mind prodded for anything to disprove the suspicions I was reading.

I gave up with an annoyed huff. It could not possibly be Luke behind the murders; it just would not make any sense at all. Besides, the deaths were occurring all over the states, Luke couldn't possibly be travelling all over America just to kill one person then fly all the way back to kill another. It had to be a gang of some sort, which would make sense. However that leads back to my previous problem. The statements in the file claim that Luke is a leader of a terrorist group of some sort. That would make my gang guess correct in the most sickening way. It just could not be though! The Luke I had grown up with never had the thoughts or influences of any of the sort to get him involved in such a thing.

My fingers furiously tapped on the wooden table I was sitting at in my small but organised lounge. Another frustrated growl ripped through my throat. I ran a hand through my blonde curls as my eyes scanned the paper. Nothing was adding up, the marks on the girl's corpse had been from an animal, so it couldn't be from a human. But it couldn't be from an animal because they can't travel across the states to kill someone then get another kill from another state entirely.

Sadly enough, that was not the only thing glued to my mind. Luke's mum had died, or more specifically been murdered. The thought curled in my stomach and sent an unpleasant sense of uncertainty up my throat. I had only met her once or twice; she was rather weird to say the least. She'd make me wonder how Luke had kept so sane when she was clearly off her rocker. Hypothetically, if it had been Luke behind the murders, that would mean he killed his mum…

My eyes widened with horror. All my thoughts were scaring me. Had I really grown up with a sociopath who had the talent of disguise? He couldn't possibly be the man behind all this tragedy, could he? No, it was impossible. I knew those soft icy blue eyes ever since I was young. They would watch over me as I climbed the monkey bars; they were always steadily resting on my back to catch me if I fell.

My teary gaze which I hadn't noticed until now, landed on the picture. I sniffed because my nose had that familiar stuffy feeling. I was getting emotional just thinking about my past. It certainly hadn't been a walk in the park and I knew that for a fact. How desperately I wanted to dodge my emotions and lock them up in a vault to never be seen again. I despised Luke; I can't stand anything about him anymore. Yet here I am willing to think of nonsense to prove the suspicions wrong. Why I'm trying to protect him? I'm not too sure myself… Maybe my stubborn nature was blinding me from the truth? Who could bear the thought that they were raised by a psychotic being? A _possible_ psychotic being, I reassure myself. If he was, wouldn't I be raised like that too?

I forced my vision on the document, trying and failing at focusing. Collections of words formed sentences, a collection of sentences formed paragraphs and yet I wasn't absorbing any it's contents. I tried, I really did but my mind just couldn't fixate on it. My curls were delicately falling to rest against my cheek. My finger came up to twist a strand, a nervous and stupid habit I had adapted to over the years. I subconsciously nibbled gently on the inside of my cheek.

I slam the pen I was fidgeting with firmly against the wooden table. I rose from my cushioned chair and promptly marched into my kitchen to grab a glass of water. I drank hoping that the cool water would somewhat relieve my frustration and upcoming headache. A small trail of liquid fell onto my orange T-shirt. I grabbed a fistful of the fabric in my hand and pulled it closer to my face to inspect it. I scowled at the small damp patch. I moved the glass around in my hand, not one drop had leaked out of the cup. Another drop found its way into my mouth, it tasted salty. My vision was blurring and then I noticed I was crying, or on the brink of it to be more specific.

Cursing at myself, I hastily wiped the tears away. I hadn't even noticed I was getting emotional. I guess it was because of all the pressure and aggravation building up inside of me. This was what I meant when I had the meeting with Chiron and Percy, the thought of Luke is heart wrenching and tears me apart. Not being able to control the feelings just make it harder. But alas, I knew I wasn't blessed enough to have that ability, I doubt anyone is.

Long deep breaths brought me back to reality. My hands curled into fists by my sides. This would not be my fall, I will not let it. I will fight these feelings, my doubts, my insecurities. I shall conquer them and leave no survivors. I will and _must_ learn to get along with my new, _partner_ , Percy Jackson. My jaw tightened. Maybe he wasn't as obnoxious as I thought. There was always the possibility of misjudgement. We'll go with that…

I wasn't sure if I could trust Percy, anyone would be after just meeting someone. It would not even be a chance to just waltz up to him and come clean with my past relations with Luke. Could I? I'll have to tell him at some point, however right now is not the time. A time will come when I will tell him, just not now. I need time to recollect myself to move on to the point I don't shiver each time I hear his name.

* * *

 **A/N: This is chapter is a rewrite that has gone through MAJOR editing, such as adding new scenes, changing some details, removing some things, all that good stuff. The first version of this chapter was terrible so I made this.**

 **There are probably still some mistakes in here that I can't see. So if you are a beta willing to help me, just send me a private message. I'm serious. Please, I don't have a beta at all. I need one…**

 **Be sure to favourite, follow, recommend, review and all that good stuff. Thank you so much!**

 **-GiftFromTheSkies**


	2. Chapter 2: Memories Can Haunt

**Emperors Errands**

 **DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE CHARACTERS. ALL RIGHTS TO RICK RIORDAN WHO CREATED THE CHARACTERS. I ONLY OWN THE PLOT AND STORY.**

 **Rated: T**

 **Main Pairing: Percy/Annabeth**

 **Summary:**  
Recent murders have been occurring all around America. It's up to one of the most skilled agents, Annabeth Chase to put an end to the ongoing mystery. But what happens when she is forced to work along with another agent? (PERCABETH, SLIGHT apocalyptic, Human AU)

 **TAGS:  
** Adventure, romance, crime, secret agent, Percy, Annabeth, spy, spies.

 **Authors Note:**

 **I apologize for the lack of uploads! But beware, I have reasons. Basically, I broke my neck. "..." Yep I know, wow. How I did it? I'd like to say I was doing hardcore parkour and broke it doing multiple backflips. But, um... Nope. I woke up and I stretched a certain way and my neck snapped back and pain. Yep. I couldn't do anything but stay still for two weeks according to doctors orders. But being stubborn me, I obviously got so bored and eventually broke those rules by exercising my neck and I'm guessing you know what happened then. Another week in the brace, yay... Anyway, enough of my pain and suffering. I really hope you enjoy this chapter! Because I had to rush it since I finally got my hands on a computer in about a month. Oh, side note, it may have heaps of errors since I had to rush for obvious reasons. So enjoy!**

 **Annabeth's P.O.V  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

As the villa came into view I couldn't help but smile.

I parked my car in one of four possible parking spots (excluding the garage).

As I got out of the car I couldn't help but notice the beauty of the place. The villa was surrounded by life and plantation. The walls were made of intricate stone, timber and a beige concrete. This place was impressive I wasn't going to lie. It was between a medium and big size. A stone path leading towards the entry was just a genius idea to add to the adventure vibe.

I couldn't wait to see the inside; I guess my luggage will have to wait for a bit.

I jogged onto the path which turned into a sprint to the door. Hades, even the door was carved to perfection. I reached out for the spotless golden door knob. My hands now firmly on the handle, I pushed it down to enter. I would love to tell you all about the inside décor but I can't because I didn't get to see it.

Immediately when I took my first step inside the house, I was greeted with a hard chest.

"Styx! ''

"Holy Hera!''

We both fell on the carpet with a groan.

Cursing I raised my head to be met with his sea green eyes. Crap. I looked at my surroundings, or rather my surrounding. Percy was wearing a plain cotton blue T-shirt with some dark blue jeans. I'm going to take a wild guess and say he liked the colour blue. Thinking back to where I was, I seemed to be on top of Percy in a very compromising position. My forearms resting beside his head, and my legs lying tangled up in his. I raised my head once again to see him smirking and winking like a dork.

He started wiggling his nose –wait why was he doing that?

"Are you sniffing me?'' I questioned slightly taken aback.

''You smell like lemons, with a hint of strawberry,'' he casually replied as if we were having a normal conversation.

''Excuse me?'' I asked glaring down at him.

He seemed to be getting comfortable, just smiling up at me with that troublemaker smirk. Oh no, I was not going to give him the pleasure of making fun of me with that face of his. With that I got up, brushing of invisible dust on my shoulder. Looking down at him I could see he wasn't going to get up anytime soon. He slowly closed his eyes and put his arms behind his head as if he were in Hawaii.

''You take a look around, I already have,'' he nonchalantly spoke.

How.

Just how was I going to put up with him?

Without giving him another look I walked around his still body out into the lounge. Wow, was my first thought as I stood at the end of the hallway looking into the room. The ceiling was on an angle going up toward the sun. That made the room very open and bright. The feature wall was genius. The brick worked so well with the décor making everything stand out, looking beautiful. The other walls were timber. Oddly enough I always thought brick and timber would never go together, but I was proven wrong. Looking around this modern villa made me feel so proud. Even the red couch blended perfectly.

I made my way to the French doors at the opposite of the room, leading to the backyard. The sight was beautiful. I could see the sun shining above mountains in the distance. Not only was the view beautiful, but the life that lived around their villa. The birds were flying around singing songs, with bugs adding their own tune to the music. It was overwhelmingly, catastrophically, stunning.

"Wow," I breathed.

"I know right?" Percy crept up behind me.

"So how long do you think we'll be staying here?" I questioned turning around the face him.

"Around four months if we're quick," he replied putting his hands in the pockets of his denim jeans. Wow… was it just me or is he really tanned?

"Hmm?" I asked completely forgetting what we were even talking about.

"Four months. How long we're staying… you asked for my opinion…" he trailed off awkwardly.

Right.

I ducked my head down. "Oh… Oh- yeah," I chuckled just as awkwardly as him. Wait a second…

I looked back up to meet his oh-so perfect sea green eyes. Just then my eyes darted down to his pearly white teeth. Ha, there was a strip of seaweed stuck between the back of his lower teeth. This is the perfect chance to tease him. How could I possibly miss out on this opportunity? " Hey seaweed head, you got some seaweed stuck in between your teeth."

"I-what hey!" he complained sticking his bottom lip out in a pout. Such a great use of English words, I thought sarcastically.

"Seaweed brain," I mumbled under my breath staring at the carpet. His lack of the dictionary made me think of the word brain, (yes, I'm aware how weird that sounds). _And_ seaweed is thick just like his reaction… so seaweed brain. It fits perfectly if you ask me.

"Huh?" he grunted unintelligibly.

"Your new nick name. We wouldn't want anyone knowing who you were in public now would we?" I smiled gazing up at shocked expression. This is going to be _so_ much fun.

"Um well yeah I guess- but-" he groaned in frustration shaking his head as if finally realizing he had been outsmarted.

There was awkward silence.

"I'll just go unpack my bags," I gestured to the front door.

He cleared his throat, "oh um, yeah, that'd be great, I mean awesome, I mean-"

"Yup, OK I get it," I bit my lip, slowly starting to proceed back into the hallway.

A fake cough could be heard from across the room just as I entered the hallway.

"Yes, is there a problem?" I questioned curiously.

He blushed then pointed to his teeth. "Where is it," he asked sheepishly, flashing me a grin. I laughed internally before gesturing where the seaweed was using my mouth as an example. "Thanks," he spoke before going into the hallway past me to a bedroom.

Maybe I was wrong.

Maybe this was going to be fun.

"So, about this guy in the photo…" Percy lingered.

"Oh gosh, don't get me started", I huffed in frustration, leaning back on my seat crossing my arms.

We were currently seated on the couch in the middle of the living room, looking out towards the sunset. Nature sure was a beautiful thing. Gazing out to the sunset we both knew we couldn't be lounging like this for long. 'At least till we have to get the weapons out and go kick some- ok better stop before I get carried away,' I snide myself.

"Well, It'd nice if you could start explaining one day," he smiled.

"Me? Explaining- no I don't think so," I smirked, sarcasm dripping from my voice.

There was silence in the room as we reveled in the calm atmosphere.

"Maybe if I tell you a bit about me you'll open up?" he questioned with hope.

I hummed. "No. Not likely." If there is something I have learned about being a spy is to _never_ dare to reveal a slightest flaw.

"Well, since were partners, I might as well try," he gazed in my direction.

I stayed silent not daring to make eye contact. I refuse to have my heart broken again, just like when-

"I was about 17," Percy cut in. Thank gods for that. I couldn't live with myself if I'd slip back onto that road again. "I was-" Percy cleared his throat. I should probably listen. Maybe I could get some useful stuff out of this. No, no stop. Annabeth you are _partners_ not nemeses. Yet… I shook my head. Why was I doing this to myself?

"Are you alright?" Percy questioned, his eyebrows furrowing together in a kind of cute way. No he-

"Continue," my eyes strike up to his. Maybe if I listen and distract myself, all these stupid thoughts will stop attacking me. Percy is _not_ cute. Maybe because I'm lonely and don't interact much is why I think he's cute. Yup, I should definitely get a cat. Cats are good company. Or maybe a dog…

With a sigh he continued. "I was walking down this- this street," he paused. Dramatic much? "And I saw this girl, she was running out of this fancy restaurant and there was a guy. He was around his early twenties I assume." I kept listening, getting rather interested in his story.

"This guy, he kept chasing her down the street. And I'll tell you it wasn't the friendly chase. She only made it half way before the guy caught up to her. It was really dark, so I couldn't really tell what was happening. But the occasional city lights did help," He laughed to himself, rather off put of what he saw. "He tackled her to the ground, and carried her into an alleyway next to them."

I got Goosebumps. This did not sound good at all. "Why didn't you help her," I asked.

He stared at the ground. "I don't- I…" he breathed for a moment, clearing his head of emotions. "I was a coward. I didn't know what to do. I had the adrenaline but I didn't do anything to stop him." This was a lot of information Percy was throwing on me, just a day after we met.

"Look if it's too much, we can-" I tried to respond but he cut me off.

"No, I need to. It's something I have been holding on my chest for a while. I just-"he gave me a pleading look. I could almost swear I saw a drop of water leaking out of his tear duct. I nodded for him to continue. "She was begging for him to put her down. But all he did was shove her against the brick wall in the alley. And my gods her eyes, they were amazing. I don't remember the colour now, but they were just so-"he stopped needing a breather. "They were just so incredible. I remember seeing her glare at the guy, with all her passion, hatred, stubbornness, pity."

Percy breathed, as if still in awe. "I swear I hadn't lived till that moment. She tried to reason with him but he seemed to think otherwise. He grabbed the collar of her shirt, shoving her up the wall to choke her. I don't even know how the guy could hold her weight; it looked too simple to him. She was struggling against his grip, crying for him to wake up. She was trying to encourage him that this wasn't him. But I doubt he even comprehended a word that was coming from her mouth since she was started to lose consciousness. Her face was so devastating to look at; she was gripping his wrists tightly, fighting to free herself." Percy rubbed his forehead, getting a headache of emotions.

"But then the weirdest thing happened. She started wheezing apologizes, before she- she grabbed a small pocket knife and slashed at his face." I winced at that. "He immediately loosened his hold on her neck and she slipped to the ground landing on her back. She curled up into a ball, a hand clutching her swollen throat in pain, eyes closing. He was groaning in agony, stumbling backwards, clawing at his throbbing face. He eventually tripped on a rubbish bag behind him. It looked like the guy couldn't take the pain so he passed out." Percy stopped short.

"That's when- that's when he came. Chiron. He grabbed the guy's collar and checked his closed eyes to make sure he was unconscious. Then he went over to the girl who had also lost consciousness, from the lack of oxygen probably. He carried her over his shoulder and left the scene. The rest is really fuzzy. But about a week later while I walked down the same street, I met Chiron. He offered me a safe home, a new start. So, I took it," He sighed, tears streaking down his face.

I reached up, tempted to brush off his tears, but I retracted noticing how weird that was.

Suddenly a loud sob could be heard.

Percy's head snapped up, trying to meet my falling gaze. "Are- are you crying?" Percy sniffed slightly amused.

"I am not crying," I mumbled trying to hide my face.

Percy laughed. "Look at us getting sentimental."

I decided to laugh along with him, before the pain of his story struck me again.

He noticed my absent laugh. "Hey what's wrong?" his eyebrows scrunched together worried.

"I…" I didn't have the courage to tell him yet. I just couldn't. He raised an eyebrow at my short response. "It's nothing, just remembered I had to go grocery shopping," first lesson of lying is to not be so obvious and say _'nothing' without a reason_.

"But Chiron said we had freshly restocked groceries before we arrived."

"Well _Chiron_ forgot to order my favourite chocolate," I said bluntly. That's a good lie. I'm keeping that one.

He cocked an eyebrow, as I stood up to leave. "Hey," I looked in his direction, waiting for him to proceed. "Friends?" he questioned.

I nodded and smiled. "Friends," I confirmed before exiting into the hallway.

I yawned, slightly exhausted from the day.

I exited the bathroom into my room. Yes I had an en suite, which I didn't mind.

I glanced around the bedroom. The room was tinted a shady black. Wow, it gets dark pretty quick out here.

I climbed into bed. After taking my shower I felt great. My fresh blonde hair fell over my shoulders as I lay down under the covers. I got into a comfortable positon, lying on my side, with my head propped up on the fluffy pillows.

I took a second to admire the room. I had fallen in love with it the minute I stepped inside. The wallpaper was covered with vintage flowers, though the furthest was a feature wall made of timber. The carpet was a creamy milk colour, soft on the feet too. It was easy to tell how dedicated the interior designer must've been with their furnishing choices.

I yawned again. I felt the energy being drained from me.

Next thing I knew, my eyes were dimming, shutting down for the night. I must've been really tired, because I didn't pay any attention to the black blotches drifting me off to sleep.

 _The girl giggled as she walked alongside the boy in the middle of the night._

" _Ok where are we going? Can you please tell me already!" she asked impatiently._

" _In a second Annie, we're almost there," the boy scolded, though his heart wasn't really in it._

 _The girl rolled her eyes and scoffed. "You're no fun," Annabeth retorted._

" _I'm no fun?" the boy asked a bit confused. "Aren't you the responsible one and I'm the fun one?" he questioned rather amused._

 _Annabeth groaned, crossing her arms over her chest while they continued walking down the street. Sure, he was two years older than her, but that does not give him the power to even_ try _to outsmart her._

 _They crossed the street._

" _Okay here we are," the boy gestured up toward the lit up sign._

" _No, Luke you didn't," Annabeth asked with a grin on her face, making eye contact with him._

" _Oh yes, I did," he smiled back at her._

 _Annabeth couldn't believe her eyes, as she gazed up at the sign. Greek for a day! The sign read. A restaurant she had always wanted to go to since her mother went._

" _Here," his cold breath brushed her check, as he pointed to her coat. She shot him a confused gaze before finally noticing what he meant._

" _Oh, right," she blushed, taking off her jacket that she wore to protect herself from the cold winter air. She watched as he took it from her grasp. He tilted his head towards the door, silently asking for her to walk inside._

 _Some bells chimed, alerting their new presence. The restaurant really was astonishing. Waiters were weaving through the tables, carrying a tray full of what looked like the best thing she could possibly eat. It was pretty crowded for the time. Everywhere she looked, she saw people dressed up, on dates, family outings, or friendly reunions. She looked down at her plain shirt and denim shorts._

" _You'll be fine. Who are they to judge our sense of fashion," Luke's sky blue eyes twinkled._

" _Well they would have a point, we dressed so casually and they are all wearing dresses, and tuxedos like you are supposed to do when you go out to fancy –"_

 _She was cut off by Luke who just scoffed and shuffled her forward to the reception area._

 _A woman was seated at the desk with a smile._

" _Hi, how may I help you tonight?" she grinned then frowned noticing our clothing choices._

" _Table for two," Luke spoke, holding up two fingers as if to help her comprehension._

" _I'm sorry to ask, but do you two have a guardian with you?" she asked._

" _No but I have my I.D," Luke reasoned._

 _The woman gestured for his I.D._

 _He passed her his card. She took a quick scan then nodded. She handed back his card. "I apologize for misunderstanding your age… sir," she responded rather bitterly. "Your table is just over there, by that young couple," she pointed._

 _Luke just nodded and followed her directions, Annabeth trailing after him._

 _They walked to the corner of the room, taking a seat on the fancy chairs._

 _Annabeth gazed at the lit candle in the middle of the table. She tended to procrastinate a lot, whether it be watching her favourite documentary, or a simple shimmering flame._

" _So," Luke started awkwardly._

" _So what did you mean when you said you had a new outlook on life," Annabeth quoted getting straight to the point._

 _Luke cleared his throat. "Right, Annabeth before I tell you this, do you promise not to be afraid," he asked rather seriously._

" _Luke I-" Annabeth didn't know what to say. Whenever he was serious, he either had a really good prank to play, or he had been caught singing in the shower. "Luke, I don't know. What happened?"_

" _Just promise me, you won't freak out, or take me to an insane asylum," he pleaded, not hint of humour in his tone._

" _I can't promise you that," his face dropped. "_ But _, can you promise_ me _one thing?"_

" _Of course I can," he raised his eyebrows in curiosity._

" _Promise me that whatever you tell me right now, won't affect the way we see each other, as family," Annabeth fiddled with her fingers, holding the eye contact._

 _He nodded. "Family, I promise," he confirmed smiling._

 _Annabeth smiled back, totally oblivious of Luke's next words._

" _Moving on," Luke pressed his lips together. "I know this may seem- weird, but things are changing, Annabeth, they could be for the better or for the worst."_

 _Annabeth snorted. "Is that it? Luke, things change every day. It isn't rocket science," she stated in amusement._

" _No that's not what I mean- I…" he took in a deep breathe. "Look, about a week ago, I was cleaning out my garage."_

" _Really?" Annabeth gasped, sarcasm flowing through her face._

" _Yes, and I found this box," Luke continued._

" _No a box? Luke you should've left that poor box alone," Annabeth snickered._

" _Annabeth can you please take this seriously, this is really- well serious," Luke scolded, annoyance laced in his voice._

" _Ok, fine. Continue," she gave in._

 _Luke sighed, leaning back in his chair. "This box it had these diagrams and reports, just all this weird high tech stuff. Well actually, it was kind of outdated technology but it was still complex," he reasoned, leaning forward._

 _Annabeth leaned forward, intrigued. "And this technology you're talking about… how outdated do you think they are?"_

" _That is where it gets interesting," he smirked, lowering his voice. "I looked at one of the papers and it had a date. 1941," he whispered the numbers slowly, as if to add some dramatic effect._

" _What!" Annabeth asked in surprise. "Luke that's- that is_ massive! _You have to tell someone," she breathed, unsure how to take this._

" _I'm telling you aren't I?" he grinned, his sky blue eyes meeting her stormy grey ones._

" _That isn't the point. Luke this is big. Bigger than you think!" she responded with haste._

" _That is exactly why I want you in on it with me. Think about it Annabeth! We could be rich. That box could be worth millions," his smile brightened._

" _We? When did I specifically agree to this? How did the box even get into your garage in the first place?" she questioned._

" _I don't know, yet. I'm still working that out. But it could've been passed down from my ancestors or something. Look, all I know is that those files could be something big and possibly the bits in bobs in there could be bigger… I may have also found a little something for you," he added, passing her a rather rustic looking weapon._

 _She studied the object. It was a bronze dagger. The sharp blade looked like it had been polished to perfection. But what caught her eye were the engravings written on the blade. She wished she could read whatever it meant, but the script was clearly an ancient language of some sort. Although the handle looked equally stunning, it had a leather strap securely wrapped around it. The design on the handle was surreal. It seemed to have a golden tree root or stem twisted around the leather to keep it together._

 _Luke interrupted her thoughts, "Annabeth, if you agree to help me in this, we could afford_ anything _."_

 _Annabeth sighed, slipping the dagger into her pocket. Its handle did stick out from her jean's pocket so she pulled her shirt over it. She took a deep breath; all this stress being put on her shoulders surely couldn't be good. Thinking back to his statement, she concluded in the most appropriate way possible, "this is something officials take care of, Luke, not- well_ us."

 _Luke stayed quiet, considering her. "You don't believe me do you?"_

" _What! Luke no-"_

" _Yes or no, Annabeth," he interrupted harshly._

" _I believe you, but do you think that what you're doing is the best thing to do? To sell it for money rather than handing it in, where it could be safe under the government's hands," she tried to persuade him._

 _He laced his hands together, taking a deep breath. He closed his eyes, trying to hold his anger down. "Go."_

" _What, but we just got-"_

" _Go," he replied loudly, opening his eyes. He stared right at her, all his rage igniting._

 _Annabeth eyes started to water. She looked back at him, waiting for him to apologize and tell her he didn't mean it. But he just stared back. She shook her head, he couldn't have meant it. A sob escaped her lips. She hurriedly placed a hand over her mouth, shocked that she was going to cry in public. With a blink, she stood from the table, making her way to the exit._

 _She felt the cold winter air brush her skin. Not stopping at anything she quickly raced down the street, wanting to be as far from the restaurant as possible. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears. She didn't know what to think of her emotions, only one thing made sense. Run._

 _Just as she ran past a street light, she heard repetitive footsteps, echoing off the pavement behind her. With a quick glance to identify who the intruder chasing her was, she snapped her head back. Luke. Luke was chasing her, and he was really good at running…_

 _She looked back to see where she was running. All she saw were old, slightly rundown buildings and fire escapes. Maybe she could climb up one of those? Her breathing started to quicken. No! She couldn't slow down now! Annabeth kept running straight ahead, crossing a street without looking._

" _Annabeth," a grunt sounded._

 _She started picking up the pace before she felt a force pushing her to the ground. He held her from behind as her stomach was pressed against the stone pavement._

" _No, no, no, please stop," she wailed, as he pinned her to the ground._

 _He ignored her pleas and secured his arms around her waist. He pulled her up like a doll, carrying her into an alley beside them. She started kicking around in his arms, squirming to break free of his hold. Her hands started clawing at his arms hoping he'd give up and let go._

" _Please put me down," she begged, tears leaking from her eyes._

 _He shoved her against the brick wall behind her, gripping the front of her shirt roughly. She knew fighting him would be pointless with the position she was in. She sought her thoughts for an idea, which was rather hard considering he was now yelling gibberish accusations at her. Her reflexes were now yelling at her to do something. So she gave into her temptation and sent him a steely glare._

" _Luke c'mon you aren't thinking straight. Just take a deep breath and let me go. Its ok I know-"_

 _She was cut off as he pulled her towards him than again pushed her against the hard brick wall. She winced, if he kept doing that, she would be slumping to the ground in seconds. 'That glaring probably didn't help,' she thought bitterly._

 _Everything around her was moving too quickly, she was starting to lose her time perception. Next thing she knew, Luke was reaching for her neck. He wrapped two solid hands around her throat and started to choke her. Her eyes widened, as she hastily started to pull at his arms. A faint black started clouding her vision. Her breathing was rapidly slowing down. If he didn't stop now, he could possibly kill her._

 _Apparently that wasn't enough; with all his strength he lifted her frail body higher on the wall so her feet were no longer touching the ground. 'This is it,' she thought, tears welling in her eyes. She continued clawing at his arms._

" _Luke, stop, this isn't you. I know this isn't you," she cried, her sobs drowning out her voice._

 _His eyes were no longer the sky blue she knew. They were tinted dark, like a demon._

" _That's where you're wrong, Annabeth," he spat out, "I've just been hiding it because I didn't want to lose you. Now look what you've done to me."_

 _She tried to argue with him, which was no use, as all he could hear was the wheezing of her breaths. She could only make out a few things out at this point, being the hatred in his eyes, and the death grip from his hands. Just as she was starting to accept her fate, she felt something stiff but sharp in her pocket. She had to, she had no choice._

" _I am so sorry, I'm-," she tried to finish but she was losing her breath quickly. She had to do it now._

 _With a quick grab, she palmed the dagger and slashed at him. The blade ran up his face, across his check to his eye. He screamed in pain, both hands now clutching his bloodied face. He stumbled backwards, tripping on a rubbish bag._

 _A thud echoed the night, as he collapsed onto the cold stone ground. Another crash followed, as she fell onto her back, no longer strong enough to take her own weight. Her dagger clattered to the ground, leaving a trail of blood behind. Everything was turning black, she had no hope left. She curled up into a ball as the last of her tears trailed down her checks._

 _At that moment, a silhouette emerged from the street, walking into the alley._

' _Great, someone else wants to kill me,' she thought with her hazy light-headed mind._

 _But, instead of the figure stabbing her or ending her life in some other gruesome way, the figure went straight towards Luke. The black shadow leaned down to check to see if Luke was still conscious. Obviously pleased, the figure stood up meeting her scarce eyes._

' _It's just a dream,' she tried to convince herself._

 _She closed her eyes, trying to catch her breathing. The last thing she remembered that night, was the shadow approaching her. But, before the figure could reach her, darkness consumed her eyes. She took one last breath before falling into the lull of unconsciousness._

 **Authors Note:**

 **YES! Another chapter done! I really wish I could assign chapter dates, but whenever I make a schedule... Well, I do it for about a week then I forget it exists so... (review if you relate.) But yes, I will be making more chapters. I have assigned events for each chapter so you don't have to worry about that. And now that my neck is better you should be expecting a lot more from me! I really hope I can meet your expectations! Ok, I think I'm done here. Awesome! See you guys all soon! Or read- nevermind! Bye!**


	3. Chapter 3: Beautifully Killed

**Emperors Errands**

 **DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE CHARACTERS. ALL RIGHTS TO RICK RIORDAN WHO CREATED THE CHARACTERS.**

 **Rated: T**

 **Main Pairing: Percy/Annabeth**

 **Summary:**  
Recent murders have been occurring all around America. It's up to one of the most skilled agents, Annabeth Chase to put an end to the ongoing mystery. But what happens when she is forced to work along with another agent? (PERCABETH, SLIGHT apocalyptic, Human AU)

 **TAGS:  
** Adventure, romance, crime, secret agent, Percy, Annabeth, spy, spies.

* * *

 **Annabeth's POV  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

I jumped awake with a gasp.

I studied my surroundings, double-checking the room as I went. I was in my temporary bedroom, no harm in sight. My gaze trailed to the open window on the far side of the room. The bright full moon shone back at me. I was okay; I was in my room, not in an alley. I took a deep breath and laid back down, cocooning myself in the comfy duvet. This was not good; the dreams were coming back. A hazy image of Luke in the restaurant crossed my mind. On instinct, I slapped my hand to my forehead to keep me grounded to reality.

"No, you're not going to do this. Don't do this to yourself, Annabeth," I scolded myself shaking my head. I closed my eyes, trying to clear my mind.

 _You're fine. You're possibly even more than fine. You are professionally trained and are a force to be reckoned with. Nothing could take you down if they tried._

Suddenly, a creak echoed around the room, sounding from the hallway. I opened my eyes, holding eye contact with the door. _Was there someone out there? Maybe Percy? He might have heard me scream… Damn it! I probably woke him up! Now I must confront him about_ —

Another creak followed by a door slamming.

 _Definitely not Percy_ , I thought. As quietly as I could, I stretched my arm out towards the bedside table. Gently pulling the draw out, my eyes caught sight of my golden dagger in the dark. Gradually wrapping my fingers around the hilt, I silently pulled the covers off. Careful not to make any noise, my feet dragged themselves onto the soft carpet.

My back met the wall next to the door without a sound. I rested my cheek against the cold smooth wallpaper. As subtlety as possible, I extended my arm outwards so the tip of my blade was pointing at closed door. I made a sidestep toward the wooden door, the floor screeched in protest. My brain was racing, picking out all the worst possible scenarios, trying it's best to convince me that I was going to get killed. Luckily, I was trained to ignore fear and focus on the task at hand. My hand jerked toward the knob of the door, steadily turning it till I heard a light click.

I waited for a few seconds before pulling the door open. Again, I waited for a couple of seconds to make sure nothing was on the other side. Once I determined that I had waited enough, I stretched my head around the corner and peered into the corridor. There was a window in the hallway which had moonlight fluttering through the blinds and emitted shadows that danced across the carpet. Apart from the airy endless vibe I was getting from the hallway, it seemed to be empty and motionless.

 _Was I hearing things? The last thing I need right now it to be admitted into a hospital._ My feet ended up carrying me across the floor to the stairs. I gazed over the railing down towards the first floor. Vacant, just like everywhere else where I had checked. Huffing quietly to myself, my hand crept up to the handrail as I slowly descended the stairs that lead down to the sunset room, making sure to keep my dagger pointing in front of me. Yes, we had to classify each room with a feature since there were so many rooms.

Once I reached the bottom of the staircase I did a quick check around the room. Everything looked undisturbed. So, it was either a stealthy stranger or I was going crazy; and going crazy is not an option I'm willing to accept.

Looking around the area, everything was untouched. The curtains were closed shut, concealing the silvery moon that beamed outside. All the lights remained off like how I had left them and there were no electronics on. As motionless as the room was, a dreading feeling of danger came at me like that one kid in gym who sweats too much. No matter how normal everything seemed there was something off that I couldn't put my finger on, which was exactly my job; finding the reason of why that something was off.

I proceeded into the kitchen until something hit me. _Shouldn't I be getting Percy? I mean he is supposed to be my partner and it is his job as much as it's mine._ Then just like the angel and devil in movies, I had a side thought. _But this is your opportunity, Annabeth! To prove you don't need anyone to accompany you on missions! Why get Percy when you could do it all by yourself? Yeah, you do not need that seaweed brain's useless opinions!_

With that, I did a quick search of the kitchen. _All appliances off; check. All lights off; check. No sign of recent activity; check._ My fingers dragged across the marble countertop, feeling for any evidence. Trotting over to the fridge, I opened the fridge to find it how I'd left it; stocked up with food. _Absolutely nothing in here either, great, I'm setting myself a record. I'll be known as greatest anti-climax in history soon._

Closing the fridge door, I found myself pacing around a corner into yet another long hallway. _If I wasn't a skilled agent I'd be lost in this place within seconds._ At that very moment, I heard a loud crash as if something heavy had fallen onto the wooden floor further down the hallway. I leaped towards the nearest room for cover. Just as I assumed, there was someone in the house. Unless you consider the wildlife that live around the house but surely it can't be an _animal,_ so that leaves the likelihood that it is in fact a human being.

I kept my ear firmly against the wall next to the doorframe to hear what was going on. I waited for a couple of seconds, twenty seconds, thirty seconds and I still wasn't hearing anything. _What if they're around the corner?_ With that thought, I hastily spun around the doorframe and revealed myself. I immediately saw a silhouette spin to see me. Not wasting a second, the figure sprinted to the far end of the house. _Whoops! Probably should have waited…_

With the adrenaline kicking in, I raced right behind them. Someway and somehow, they managed to run in a circle towards the sunroom which I had been to earlier. Entering the room, I found the intruder standing on the couch facing me with their fists in front of them in a fight stance. _Idiot didn't even think to bring a weapon to defend themselves._ Then as if they read my mind, they must've realised how much of a disadvantage they had and pulled a long golden weapon from nowhere. On further inspection, _at least as much of an inspection you could do in the dark,_ I concluded that the weapon was a long golden sword. _They seem to like the classic, opposed to guns. A bit like me…_

Without any further thoughts, I ran at them and they decided to make a grand move by running off the edge of the couch and leaping to tackle me to the ground. I dodged to the side and swung my knife toward their arm closest to me. _Maybe I could do some damage to their arms which would limit their ability to fight back and defend themselves._ Going into action with my plan I swung again at their arm but they rolled to the side just as my knife contacted the carpet. They didn't waste any formalities by swinging their golden sword in an arc toward my neck which I swiftly dodged. I countered back by crouching down and sweeping my leg under their feet hoping to catch them unbalanced before sending my fist straight to their nose as they tripped and stumbled.

But unfortunately, the stranger was rather well trained and used my current fist attack as a chance. While my fist was going toward their nose, they sidestepped and pulled my fist forward so it threw me onto the ground. I planted my hands firm on the ground to cushion my harsh fall. Knowing they wouldn't want to waste the opportunity to attack me while I was defenceless I rolled to my back to avoid any attacks.

The silhouette loomed over me, the blade of their raised golden sword reflected moonlight which hugged the walls every now and then. As defence I threw my foot with as much force as I could muster at their inner ankle. As my foot made contact with their ankle a blunt click was heard as they tumbled to the ground beside me. I straddled the stranger putting my dagger to their neck. I did a quick search of the black figure for the golden sword they were previously holding and any other items they could use against me. _None, must have dropped the sword when they fell, perfect._

"Who are you?" I asked slowly and deeply. Since this person was rather good with a sword I didn't want them knowing my identity just yet. The person's body remained limp and unmoving.

"Answer—" I was cut off as the figure sat up in a rapid motion crashing their forehead against mine.

My hand didn't waste any time coming to the rescue by cupping my now pulsing headache. My eyes shut tight in hopes to minimize the pain somehow. I was tackled to the ground, now lying underneath the intruder. My hand reflexively tried to stab the person in the hip to distract them but my fist was stopped mid-air to be met with another fist. Our fists collided together, making an efficient cracking sound, accompanied by groans of pain as my dagger flung across the room. I retreated my hand back to my chest to shield it from any more pain. Listening closer I could identify the groans of pain to be masculine. _He probably knows I'm a female now._ I let out a frustrated growl before using both my legs to kick him in his chest. He let out a deep cough as the air was kicked out of his lungs and landed on his back.

I groaned again, this really wasn't going how I imagined. I had a tremendous headache along with a likely fractured hand. I shuffled into a sitting position trying to collect myself. Plan B, don't attack but defend until he gets tired then make a move. _Or_ , I could figure a way to take him down with the resources around me…

Going with my gut instinct, I got up and ran to the wire that attached the (currently off) lamp to the electrical socket. I disconnected the wire from the lamp but left the wire still plugged into the wall. I then ran to the wall to turn the electrical socket on so I now had the wonders of electricity on my side. I took a stance and pointed the two metal talons from the end of the cord toward him. Slowly but steadily, he got up and balanced himself out. He looked around for a bit to find me until he saw me standing by the wall. He seemed to think I was resorting to my last possible way to defend myself since I didn't pick up my dagger. _Which now, I really wish I had._ Oddly enough, he didn't go straight for me, but he instead went for my dagger rather than his sword which was a couple feet away. _Not what I was hoping for but I can still make this work._

Suddenly he charged at me while I readied my wire. He raised the dagger above his head like it was some magic sword as came very close to me. _Does he not know how to use a dagger?_ A weird sort of giggle came out of me before I realised his distance to me. Without any hesitation, I stuck the wire out in front of me in a horizontal line and leaned away to the side. My dagger that he was holding came down on the wire cutting into it and sending flares of electricity to light up the room as a big _POP_ screeched to confirm the small but effective explosion I created. In the little time that the room was lit up, I saw a flash of sea-green orbs look into my stormy grey ones before being flung back by the explosion and landing on my back against the wall. Once the room returned to its dark unknown nature, I groggily sat up and felt for any burns or serious damage. When I decided I was fine, I looked into the distance in front of me at the dark figure.

 _Did I just…? No, surely not. I couldn't have just fought—_

"Percy?" I asked loud and clearly.

There was a pause of silence before, "Annabeth?"

I breathed in a deep breath before I muttered quietly to myself, "moron."

I heard a strike followed by another until the room suddenly lit up. I studied the flame then proceeded to look at the owner of the hand to find it was indeed Percy holding a lit match with its matching box in the other hand, pun not intended. _Where did he even get those?_ Looking down, he was wearing his tool belt which held his appearance, his hair was a mess, as if a drakon had used his head as a nest. His forehead was tinted a light shade of pink and slightly swollen from the head-butt. He was wearing a loose blue shirt and pale blue cotton shorts that ended above his knees. His hand also looked to be somewhat injured like mine. But what annoyed me the most was that he had the nerve to smirk when he looked at me as if to say: ' _oh, will you look at that; the person I tried to kill turns out to be my partner.'_

Percy dared to let a light chuckle fall from his lips, "You're not that bad."

And like every cell, every molecule in the universe, every part of me was enraged. "I am what?" My voice dropped lower than usual. He wouldn't dare mock my capabilities. "Repeat that again and you risk ever seeing another sunrise," I threatened clenching my teeth tightly together all the while glaring daggers at him.

His eyebrows raised in alarm. "Is that a threat?" He smirked as if he were amused by a puppy walking around in circles trying to chase their tail.

"I don't know, want to stick around and find out?" I sneered. This man was a burden to have around. "I'm a professionally trained agent. You don't know what I've seen, what I've done and what I've had to live with. So don't you dare for a second underestimate my capabilities, I could have killed you! Life and death is not a game so stop acting like a child!" I spat out, my eyes were wide with disbelief and my chest was rising and falling in a rather rapid motion.

I could tell he was taken aback by this by his sudden unnerved body posture. His body tensed in a sort of defensive way. "You think I'm not taking this seriously? I could easily have the same argument as you," Percy stared me down, clearly as enraged as I was. He did have a point, I still didn't know much of his background or history. "And before you think of attacking me", he added, "just remember whose side I'm on."

His words hit me like a brick. I was told to see Percy as an asset, an advantage and here I am throwing that out the window just because of my own selfish wants. Sure, it sucks when you're paired with someone incompatible to your own style, but that's just a problem you learn to deal with. A problem I should just suck up and accept because arguing with him will get me nowhere. I was officially caught in the wrong. I had been proven that I was wrong which felt very weird and strange. _Does that mean I must apologize?_ I tried to rid myself of the possibility of that situation until I met his eyes. They held disappointment, anger, frustration and hesitance, Gods only know what he saw in mine. He shifted his weight and rolled his shoulders back and took a deep breath as if to clear his conflicted thoughts.

There was a long pause in the room. "Maybe this, maybe we—" he started to speak more confidently, "I don't think we can do this together."

I listened intently to what he was saying. He seemed to be following my thinking path which is not good because if we don't do it together—

"I just don't think we're going to make it if this is how we will be working together, we might as well not waste Chiron's time." I analysed his eyes again which had oddly been communicating with me more than himself. He was telling the truth, he truly felt that way. However, this couldn't be, he was willing to just give up on Chiron that easily?

"No," I stated, "I won't let you." His eyebrows furrowed together and his head tilted to the side slightly. "How dare you disappoint someone just because you aren't willing to learn their ways and learn to work together!" I spat out, venom laced in my tongue. We stared each other down, his facial features became more prominent as did the bruise on his forehead. He had very faint freckles across his nose. Right then and there, I believed he started to finally understand what I was trying to convey.

"Remember who you are doing this for, Chiron," I spoke. Another stretched out silence engulfed the room. My words seemed to be slowly sinking into him. He nodded in response.

"For Chiron," he replied.

* * *

His laugh echoed around the room.

"And then she gave me this look, like I had destroyed her science project or something," Percy wheezed, tears forming in his eyes from the uncontrollable laughter.

I couldn't contain my bursting laughter as I giggled alongside him. We were currently sitting on the couch in our favourite spot, the lounge with the sunset. I was wearing my typical mission attire, a stretchy pair of black yoga pants that ended just under my knees and a dark tank top. My sheath was strapped to the outside of my thigh which held my dagger. I also had my tool belt equipped which some other necessities. Oddly enough, this is what us agents call _'light clothing'_.

Ever since the night incident, we had lightened up to each other, a bit. Emphasis on a bit. We had a new respect for the other although we were still cautious. I took a sip from my half full coffee. Did I mention the kitchen had a built-in coffee machine? Best moment of my life when I found it. I can't lie; I do love a good cup of caffeine in the morning to keep my energy up.

"And what did you do?" I questioned, intrigued by his story, all the while holding the mug close to my face for warmth in the frosty morning.

"I left her to clean up her mess. If she had listened to me, she wouldn't have fallen into the fountain," he reasoned.

I burst out in a fit of laughter. For the past three days, we had oddly enough started to get along. He had told me stories of when he was younger and had gotten into trouble. In return I told him a few stories of myself when I outsmarted people. Because to be honest, I had been a perfect student in school, scoring above all my classmates according to my teacher. I may have rubbed it in a few people's faces, claiming that even with something that was meant to make learning difficult for me, I was more intelligent than them. Speaking of education, I had learnt that he too had dyslexia and ADHD from his rants about school.

"That reminds me of this one time—"

A crash echoed around the room interrupting me.

As on instinct, we both pulled out our preferred weapons from their respective sheaths. He pulled out his 'trusty sword' which he nicknamed 'Riptide', as I grabbed for my golden dagger that Luke had given me.

"You go through the backdoor, I'll take the front," Percy commanded, all humour wiped from his face.

"Are you crazy? How could you just run into something unprepared?" I retorted, keeping my voice down. And there it was again, back to square one with our disagreements.

Even though we had spent a couple days together talking about the mission, we still hadn't discussed our battle strategies so his act of courage was a smack in the face to me. He seemed to be more of the 'go hard, or go home' sort of guy. Whilst I was more likely an 'independent planner', who thought out every possible consequence thoroughly. I guess you could say there was quite a large difference when it came to our style of fighting.

"You expect us to go fight something that— A: could be an animal, B: Something we aren't experienced in fighting, or C: run right into a trap.

"Well yeah, we can't just hide here, can we? Besides we are trained professionals," he reasoned, "we'll be fine, have faith in me."

"Sorry, did I forget D: All of the above?" I snarled rather annoyed at his antics.

He rolled his eyes, clearly not seeing my point. "Would you rather waste time or go look?" He cocked an eyebrow.

I glared at him hoping he'd back out of his ' _plan_ '. To no avail, he stared right back.

Just as I was about to open my mouth, he started walking for the backdoor so I had no choice but to follow. It wasn't like I could just drag him back into the lounge and tell him to stay like a little puppy. Uncooperatively, I followed fit behind him.

The shadows from the trees danced across the chiselled concrete path, creating a rather depressing and uncomfortable atmosphere. Several light rays found their way past the bitter cold plantation, striking the ground every now and then making patterns along the path. The air seemed dead, compared to its usual chirpy feel. The orchids that decorated the gardens were drooping like a sad soap opera. This garden was clearly ticking all the boxes for dangerous. It didn't take a genius to figure that out.

"Wait up, hydrogen," I hissed, being cautious to keep my voice down.

I found Percy crouched behind a rather large boulder. It towered over no more than the height of an adult's hips deeming it a perfect piece of décor to hide behind. I crouched down beside him, scanning the area for any threats. _I swear, if he is trying to prank me or trick me in any way, shape or form—someone can say goodbye to their job._ _Okay, focus. There are some lilies, peonies, and is that a pair of yellow eyes? Did I miss Halloween?_

But the eyes were so unhuman. They were best categorised feline. Dark thin slits for pupils and a sickly yellow for irises. In hindsight, I would've assumed I was looking into the dead eyes of a dragon if they were real. The sewer-like eyes had a sort of craze in them which made me shift a tiny bit in my spot. Oddly enough, the eyes stared right back at me as if I were some alien threatening to harm everything it loved. I peered in Percy's direction to see what he thought of the sight. He looked to be in a trance with the strange eyes, as if he too couldn't believe someone had no taste in makeup.

"What the Hades is that thing?" He muttered under his breath. Truth be told, I had to agree with seaweed brain. What the Hades was it? It couldn't be someone who had an extremely good idea to prank their neighbours, because there were no other houses in sight for miles for a fact.

"Don't know, don't care," apathy flooded into my voice. "But whatever the Styx it is, it isn't welcome into my luxurious villa." Percy cracked a smile at that but it didn't last long before the unwelcomed creature chose to take action and run out of view.

Adrenaline kicked in at full speed, twisting all the cogs in my brain to life. "Oh, no, mother of all that is holy!" I cursed silently, "where'd it go? Did you see what direction it went in?" Angst crept into my voice, unmistakably that _thing_ had seen us.

"No, though it's the reason I have this bad boy," he said after raising his beloved blade dubbed _'Riptide'_ as a dramatic effect.

I took a low breath to clear my head of useless thoughts and concentrated. _Alright Annabeth, you got this. What do we know so far? We know that those eyes aren't human, no doubt one hundred percent creature. It doesn't attack at first sight; maybe it uses a type of hunting technique?_

"Here's what we're going to do," Percy interrupted my thoughts. "We'll run over there," he said pointing to the open grass area a few meters in front of us, "and put up a fight with that thing."

My eyes darted from the creature that I caught crouching behind some bushes straight to him. "What! Are you crazy? No, we should split up. I'll make my way behind that tree on the left," I said pointing to said tree, "and you go to the right and distract it. While you're there you might as well do some damage. Then—" I paused as I looked further into the backyard studying it. There appeared to be a large yew tree, towering over various other trees. Its branches spread out as if it were caught between a game of tug of war, wanting to stretch its branches to cover as much of the area as possible. But amongst the branches was the black sheep of the litter. It was moping out to one side, reaching out as if to kiss the ground. In other words, it was highly unsteady, almost to the point of collapsing entirely.

"Then," I continued, "I want you to try and attract it over towards that branch."

"Which one?"

"The one that looks like it's going to fall. By then, I'll already be up that tree. All that branch needs is a good jumping on and possibly some hacking and it'll fall right onto that, well, _thing_ ," I said. The mysterious eyes were still lurking around us.

Percy huffed in annoyance. "Or, we could just attack it." I gave him a grim look, which he responded to by raising both hands in defence. "C'mon, we're both professionally trained in fighting. What could go wrong?" I rolled my eyes. _A lot of things could happen, seaweed brain._ "Fine, we'll do it your way," he said scrunching his eyebrows together and stretching his shoulders.

Percy crouched waiting impatiently for her signal. "Hey, Annabeth," I flinched from where I was. This was one of those rare occasions where he addressed me by my name. Not Annabelle, not whatever pops to his head when he sees me but Annabeth.

"What?" My voice came out rather harsher than I anticipated. I wasn't angry at him or anything, I was frustrated because I felt I was wasting my time giving him orders that he likely wouldn't follow being the stubborn guy I know. My grey irises found his deep aquamarine ones. I strained my eyes a bit just to get the message through that I would not tolerate any of his uncooperative behaviours.

He cocked his lip up in his signature smirk. "Please don't get too mad at me when I don't follow through with the plan."

His words immediately registered through my brain. I tried to reach out for the collar of his shirt to pull him back but it was too late because he was already sprinting towards the monster. I silently cursed to myself before sprinting to the other side of the enormous garden toward the yew tree. I should've known better, it was impossible to get that boy to follow instructions.

Starting the great climb up the tree, my right-hand grasped the first branch while my left-hand wrapped its finger around another branch. Using my strength, I hauled myself up and quickly reached out for a piece of wood to start my ascent. When I was about half way, which wasn't really that far off the ground, I stopped to check on Percy's progress.

Percy was no more than a couple trees in front of me. He appeared to have already caught the monster's attention by aggravating it with jokes describing its 'ugliness'. However, I can't say he was in the wrong to do so. The monster or whatever it was, was hideous but at the same time terrifying. Now I use to study classical studies in school, so when I recognise something relevant to that subject, I'm almost positive I'm correct. The monster resembled somewhat of a mini chimera. It looked so real, how is it even possible for a creature to have three heads and be breathing? Am I going crazy?

I blinked and looked again and sure enough, a mini chimera the height of a tall dog at best, roaring at Percy. He didn't even flinch when the animal came close to clawing his face off, he simply dodged, rolled out of the way, and slashed its back. Was he crazy? How is he so chill when something supernatural is happening? I mean, it _could_ be scientifically possible, but why or how did someone let it escape and why am I the first to discover it? Nothing is making sense… I only know that this _thing_ was hostile and a threat and threats must be eliminated.

As I was taking my final steps up the tree, I heard Percy yelling my name. Alarmed by this, I decided my best odds were to get up to my destination to the leaning branch rather than stopping in midst climb. A blasting roar crashed against my ears that I instinctively covered one ear with my hand to stop the assault on my ear. Not realizing what I had just done, I slipped down the trunk with my one free hand desperately clawing at a branch to stop myself from plummeting into the monster's mercy.

I heard Percy scream my name again followed by a disapproved growl of the monster. I could sense the monster's present at the bottom of the trunk, if I fell now, it could possibly be the end of me. I frantically began to haul myself up again, my foot making attempts to find a place to firmly lay itself to help me push. Some bark scraped me and left faint cuts on my hands. I could hear Percy slashing at the beast trying to lure it away from me but to no avail it wasn't working, the mini-chimera was determined to have me as a snack. I could feel the beast's humid breath on my leg which encouraged me to hurry my pace even more.

I finally reached the sloping branch. I didn't waste any time getting to work at hacking at it too. A slight cut in the wood started to form and the bark fell to the earth. I heard an anguished hiss below me indicating that some of the bark had fallen in the eyes of the third head that looked all too much like a snake. A few more slashes at the branch and a thick deep cut was present. I only needed to jump like a maniac for it to come loose and fall on the beast.

Steadily holding onto the trunk to keep me stable, I stood up. I held onto a thick branch above me to keep me from tumbling to my doom. I used my core strength the pull myself up as if I were doing a pull up then crash my feet down onto the slashed branch. When my feet contacted the wood, I heard an immediate crack. Repeating my previous action, I lifted myself then thrusted my feet down harder onto the branch, another crack was heard. The leaves rustled and became looser each time I jumped.

A frustrated shout haltered my jumping session. I knew not to look down at that moment, it would be a terrible idea considering the risk I'm already in but I was tempted to check on Percy's progress. He had given up on trying to change the monster's focus because it clearly only wanted to feast on me. He was squinting his eyes at the beast clearly uncomprehending its craving for me. I gave the thick wood a few kicks before building enough anger to scold Percy.

"What do you think you're doing?! Nothing? Because it sure looks like it!" I shouted in frustration while he sent me panicked look. "I don't care what you do, just do something to get this _thing_ away from me! I need a good minute or two before this branch gives way!" I barked. He quickly swooped into action by suddenly sprinting in the opposite direction, earning the monster's attention.

The monster now curious of him, shuffled a few feet away from the tree before blasting into a full chase. Not what I wanted but it will buy me some time. Sweat started to roll down my neck as I jumped like a maniac. A significant crack was heard. One more jump and this branch would snap. I needed to get the monster underneath the branch again. Looking in the direction Percy had run, I saw him hitting at trees as he passed to keep the animal's attention. He seemed to be running in a circle around a set of trees to possibly distract the beast.

"Percy! Lure it over here!" I frantically pointed below myself.

He didn't look up to me once as he started charging to my tree with his sword now in sheath feeling no need to use it. He ran past the trunk of my tree to hide behind another big boulder for cover. The mini-chimera didn't falter and following behind him. However, it came to a stop when it lost focus on Percy and picked me as prey instead. The animal with three heads had its full attention on me, unconsciously waiting patiently for its death. With one final jump, the branch snapped and collapsed onto of the animal. A distort roar, hiss and baa called out from the impact.

I managed to wrap my legs around the branch I was holding onto before the one I was standing on collapsed. I took this time to gather my breath before making another dramatic action. I could hear the complaints coming from the animal below me clearly indicating that it was still breathing. I never pictured it to be die from the impact of a large branch anyway but it would keep the beast down and unmoving. From there I could easily end its life. I looked down at the bellowing monster as it tried to squirm free with its lion front paws and goat hindlegs. Percy came out from his hiding spot to inspect the monster. After a good moment of watching it battle against the large piece of fallen yew branch, Percy caught my eye.

"Hey, you alright up there Spider-Man?" he asked with a breathy voice.

"Don't joke about spiders," I replied sternly whilst rolling my eyes. He laughed with what breath he had left before glaring at the buried loud and uncooperative lion morph. "Make sure it doesn't go anywhere while I get down."

"Yes, ma'am," was his answer.

I started to shuffle towards the trunk using my legs to pull and my arms to push. My progress was soon cut short when a deadly crack ruptured the silence before I soon realised my impending doom. My heart rate increased and adrenaline starting pumping through my body as instinct kicked in and I swung to reach for something, anything to break my fall. Everything started moving too quickly and next thing I knew, I was tumbling to my inevitable downfall. My arm got tangled around a thin branch during my rapid descent tossing my body in an awkward position. Kicking around in mid-air didn't help either as my calf scraped against a part of the trunk that had a protruding sharp piece of wood. My piercing scream was the last thing I remembered or heard before my plummet ended.

I couldn't do anything. I couldn't move, see, feel, smell, taste or hear. Everything was so fuzzy and I felt lightheaded. It took me half a minute to register that the state I was in was certainly not normal. My body was completely numb and I couldn't think, I could only stare at the darkness engulfing me. I lay there for what could've been minutes but felt like years. Fear started to kick in, I started panicking. _How long was I going to be like this? Will I be stuck like this forever?_ My head hurt when I tried to think back to where I last was before I went into this state. I tried to push the pain to the back of my head, convincing myself that it wasn't important right now and tried to think of the last place I remember being. But I just couldn't, it felt like my entire world had just turned against me and left me to wallow in pain and misery.

After hazily choosing to wait some more time out to heal from whatever I was experiencing, hope finally decided to show its face. I could feel something rubbing my numb hand. Something was watching over me, I couldn't help but form what was probably a lazy smile. Suddenly sound came crashing down upon me. A violent ringing started in my ears causing me to scrunch my face up in hopes to somewhat relieve the pain. Taste came next, a salty copper taste spread across my mouth, blood. I had enough strength to graze my lips with my tongue to moisten them. I was starting to feel something rubbing my arm more prominently. I used my limited strength to wriggle my body around to wake it up.

I tried to pry my eyes open but my eyelids just wouldn't budge. I became desperate to try to awaken as the pain started getting worse. Then all at once, everything seemed to fall on top of me. My eyes flew open and my breathing drastically changed to a high tempo. I first studied the sky, it was vibrant and gentle. It made me question why I was suffering and the earth was revelling in beauty. I studied my surroundings and ignored my aching head. I was laying six or seven meters away from a monster lying on some nicely trimmed grass. My eyes widened, I had no idea what was happening, how did I even get into my position? I eyed the boy with tousled raven hair who was a few feet away from me and frantically trying to contact someone on his phone which he soon resorted to yelling into in frustration.

A throaty roar caught my attention as I quickly gazed back at the beast who was trying to squirm from its confine. I sat up using my forearms to support myself. My body immediately rejected this decision by sending a wave of agony down my spine. I groaned but held still downright refusing to lay back down. I flinched when I looked to one of the sources of my pain, my leg. It had a nasty gash that covered the area from my foot to my knee. Blood was quickly seeping through it. Panic reared its ugly head but I held it back, panicking was going to get me nowhere and only lessen my chances of survival. I had to confront this boy if I was to get anywhere.

"Boy! What are you doing? Help me!" I shouted at the idiot that was pacing trying to talk to someone. His eyes widened and he raced to my side and crouched to my level.

He grabbed my chin and turned my face to the left then right. "I'm so sorry Annabeth. Is your head okay?" He asked calmly as if he dealt with this daily.

I swatted his hand off my face. "I'll be fine for now, just—" pain shot up my head and I clutched it with my hand. He stared intently at me and his eyes followed my hand as I pulled it away. My hand was covered in blood. "What happened to me? And, and who are you?" My voice cracked with uncertainty.

He was clearly shaken by this as he pulled back a little. "Annabeth, it's me, Percy. Your head took a blow when you fell from that tree," he concluded. _Tree? What is he on about?_ "I think you got yourself a bad concussion."

Well, that would make sense. Assessing my symptoms he was probably right. "Wait, tree? What—" _Oh. I fell from a tree…_ My memory was fuzzy but it was coming back. Holy Hera it was a miracle that my memory loss was only temporary.

"Give me a second to take care of that thing," he pointed his thumb behind him in the direction of the monster, "then we'll get you fixed up." I nodded and hissed as everything went black for a heartbeat.

I watched Percy make his way to the monster. He pulled his sword out of it sheath and pointed it between the eyes of the lion head. He gave it a nasty glare before holding Riptide up and bringing it down in a swing beheading the creature. Its other two heads didn't take likely to this by the hissing and aggressive baas. Leaves rustled as they fought against their restraints. Percy moved along to the snake head clearly annoyed at its hissing. The snake head would be harder to get rid of because it could stretch out further by weaving through the branches and twigs of its confine. Percy raised his sword once more but fell short as he stood there studying it before his eyes widened and backed away from the monster which soon turned into a run toward me.

"Annabeth, run!" he shouted. I ignored his request sending him a confused face. "RUN!" he shouted louder this time with more dominance in his voice.

I was about to question him before I saw that behind him the big branch I had used to constrain the beast flew over Percy and crashed beside me. My heart rate increased rapidly and adrenaline kicked in. The animal rose to its full height and looked dead into my eyes before charging. I screamed. I, Annabeth Chase screamed. My piercing scream concerned Percy as he tried to run to my side but with a second look behind him choose to dodge to the side to avoid a swipe of a lion's paw. The mini-chimera charged straight at me as I used all my strength to attempt to stand but I couldn't, I had too many injuries holding me back. Going with plan b, I rolled onto my stomach and started a furious army crawl away from the beast.

With a risky glance behind my shoulder, I determined the distance between me and the animal deadly. It was closing in on me fast, I had to make a sudden move otherwise it would be all over for me. I dragged myself along the grass one more time before rolling onto my back and grabbing my knife out of its sheath and pointing it straight up toward the monster. I only took a second to look at the trail of blood I had created coating the once freshly green grass into a crimson mess.

Percy screamed my name one last time before the creature pounced at me. My adrenaline slowed everything down, I clutched my dagger until my knuckles turned white and prayed to any and every god out there that I would be able to see another day. When the growls became ear piercing and I could feel the breath of either of the heads, I closed my eyes and thrusted my dagger up hoping to stab something.

For once, everything was deathly silent. Another violent roar from each animal head. Another moment passed and I could still feel my aching body. Was this what death felt like? A heavy weight fell atop me and wiped the air out of my lungs. My eyes flew open to what I thought would be hell but was in fact the lifeless body of the beast. My eyes trailed down its chest noticing a bloodied golden sword poking out through the golden fur. The sight probably would've stolen a breath from me but I didn't have any oxygen in me. My body was aching with an undeniable agonizing pain. I felt something pushing the weight off me to my side. _Percy_ , I thought in relief. I used my little strength to somewhat help him. He pushed the body off me with a big push. I took a deep breath and revelled as oxygen filled my lungs. I lay there, bleeding out from my wounds and watching the clouds roll by. Percy kneeled staring at the grass with his back facing me trying to catch his breath.

My cheek embraced the vibrant mowed lawn as I rolled it to the side to watch him. He finally snapped back to reality and looked over his shoulder to see me staring at him as I unintentionally turned the grass a dark shade of red. I studied his face blocking out the pain and my body's protest. His long eyelashes brushed his cheekbones as he looked down at my wounds. He turned his body fully around straightening his back. He reached his hand out to touch the gash I had on my leg but I never felt his fingers. He just held his hand over the wound. Percy's hand finally landed on my knee and rubbed my kneecap with his thumb. He stared deeply at my leg before retracting his hand and looking up at me to find any more serious injuries. Finding none, he sucked in air before letting go a heavy breath of relief. Finally, his beautiful green orbs reached my silver ones. I sent him a drowsy smile, silently telling him I was okay.

A year could've passed and I wouldn't have noticed. He didn't reciprocate, he just looked back to the gash on the side of my shin as if he was too deep in thought to respond. By reading his body language, he didn't want to talk just yet, he just needed comfort and reassurance.

A glimmer of gold caught the side of my eye. I watched the monster's body slowly disintegrate into shiny gold dust which flew off into the breeze fading from existence. Just yesterday I wouldn't have imagined a living and breathing lion morphed with two other animals but today, after what I went through, I'd believe any of the sort. It's weird how fascinated I found the deformation of the corpse. The shiny particles would gather together in the air to form a flame shape before disappearing from the face of the earth. It was oddly beautiful in the most disturbing way.

The breeze blew a strand of my hair onto my face. I batted at it to get it off my face before acknowledging it was no longer the shiny blond silky strands I once knew but coated in a thick layer of maroon. Percy flashed his green eyes at me and furrowed his eyebrows together. I pursed my lips preparing myself to build up enough mental strength to confront him about what just happened.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Physically, nope. I almost died from my inability to move. But I knew what he was referring to. He was asking if I was mentally stable. I guess he knew how much a life and death situation can really affect a person, let alone scar them. I thought about this, was I really just, _okay_? Was it just another mere death experience to just brush off? Back there, I believed I was going to die which is something I would never imagine that I'd ever feel. I hate to admit it, but that did scar me inside. After all these years of convincing myself I could do anything and I almost die from my own plan? I was not okay, but Percy could not know that. I had to keep up an act and live up to it. I'm not a wimp or a coward so why start now? Hesitance will only lead to more problems.

"I'm fine," I said, even though it was only half true.

He nodded but I couldn't tell if he really meant it. "You need serious medical attention, I can only do so much before your gash-" I flinched remembering the wound and the pain it was inflicting. "You're losing a lot of blood, Annabeth. I need to get you to a hospital."

I shook my head and he looked at me as if I was crazy which at this point he wouldn't be necessarily wrong. "Chiron, you can't tell him. If you take me to any medical facility, they will report me back to him. I can't live knowing I disappointed him. The other night, we made a pact. We're doing this for Chiron and we will stop at nothing until we make him proud," I croaked out squeezing Percy's arm.

His eyes widened clearly stunned at my words. "But to what point do you come to the conclusion of putting your life on the line just to stay true to your word? When did you conclude that Chiron is going to be ashamed that you failed your mission because you were bleeding to death trying to accomplish it?" he reasoned. I sent him a helpless expression to which he sighed.

He reached out for a large leaf and pressed it down against the wound of my leg. I silent hiss left my mouth as he applied pressure to my deep cut. "Please," I breathed. A word so simple with so many different meanings.

He bit his lip assessing the situation at hand. I could've sworn I saw a cog turning in his head. "Fine," he said, finally giving into my stubborn nature. "I'm not going to move you yet, that might trigger another wound to start bleeding," he said remaining rather calm. "I'll be right back, I'm just going to go get fetch the first aid kit. Call if you need help," he spoke with confidence before standing up, taking one last look around then proceeding to march inside the villa.

A couple minutes later, Percy arrived and kneeled beside me with the first aid kit. No conversation was needed, he went to work with the gash on my leg. He placed a long spongey pad on top of it. He then lifted my leg just enough to started wrapping the bandage around it and I assisted him by not squirming too much. To keep it secure, he tucked the last strand of the bandage in and used some tape provided in the kit to keep it from coming loose. His eyes then found mine before looking up to my forehead where he brushed his fingers near my hairline. Percy scrunched his eyebrows together then retracted his hand and stared at it. I was wondering why until I remembered that I had touched it earlier and it was bleeding. Digging back into the first aid, he fished out another fluffy white pad. He gently dabbed it on my forehead while I stared at him like an idiot. Then next thing I knew, he was wiping the blood away with what felt like a wet wipe. Once he'd cleaned up most of the blood, he held the pad there to stop the blood flow.

It amused me how something so simple and boring could make the world shine a little brighter. I probably sent him a dorky smile because he smiled right back at me. It was strange to see his way of handling tragedy. I'd expect him to be all over the place rather than what he was actually like which was calm and collected. Then again, the reason may be because he barely knows me so it wouldn't affect him too much if I was in a severe condition. What if I had been important to him? Would he worry for me? I let what felt like a giggle slip through my mouth at the thought. He was only doing this because he needed me as an asset. On top of that, Percy would likely loose respect from Chiron if I died. He wasn't helping me because he wanted to, he was helping me because it's his job, because it's a code he must abide to.

* * *

 **A/N. I'm the worst. How long has it been? Half a year? Whoops... Sorry is not going to cut it, will it? Well I don't really have any excuses. I guess I lacked the motivation and I keep starting projects and losing track of time. I have the worst habit of starting things I know I can't finish, T_T.**

 **Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! The first half of the chapter is from last year so it may not be all that good. The second half is more recent though! I will admit I had a ton of fun writing the second fight scene. :3 I know, I'm cruel. Six months later and I throw this at you. Sorry if you find a million errors in this one but I felt I had to upload something. I'll be coming back to it to fix the errors though.**

 **Please leave a review, recommend, favourite, follow and all that good stuff! It really makes my day! That's all, thank you and bye! :D**

 **-GiftFromTheSkies**


	4. Chapter 4: These Open Scars

**Emperors Errands**

* * *

 **DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE CHARACTERS. ALL RIGHTS TO RICK RIORDAN WHO CREATED THE CHARACTERS.**

 **Rated: T**

 **Main Pairing: Percy/Annabeth**

 **Summary:**  
Childhood tragedies and a new mission is all Annabeth Chase needs to keep her up at night. When a spike in murders across America sends Annabeth and her astonishing handsome partner, Percy Jackson, on a wild goose chase of corrupt memories, she is forced to confront a not so friendly face from her past. (Percabeth, Human AU.)

 **TAGS:  
** Adventure, romance, crime, secret agent, Percy, Annabeth, spy, spies.

* * *

 **Annabeth's POV  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

The crackling of a fire jolted me awake. It felt like my stomach was tangled in knots, restricting any food from digesting. As my eyelids fluttered open I could feel the beads of sweat on my forehead. Blond curls stuck to the nape of my neck. I would have guessed I was bathing in my own sweat and agony if I hadn't noticed the soft cushions and duvet covering my body. I arched my stiff back up in an attempt to stretch. I closed my eyes again to try focus at the task at hand which was getting motion back in my arms and legs so they weren't fixed in the same position. My throat was dry so I heaved a cough followed by a few others.

I shifted my weight up the couch so I was sitting upright with my feet perched at the end. I was on the red couch in the sunroom of the villa Percy and I were staying in. My bones still ached; however, I was feeling far better than last time. Curiosity spiked my mind as I swiftly pulled the sheets off my legs to check my massive wound. It was tied and bandaged neatly like a professional had done it. The bandage looked clean so it must be fresh. My finger poked the injury and I winced like I'd expected. It felt a lot better though so it must be healing.

I looked around the room. On the glass coffee table was a bunch of medical supplies, including the first aid kit Percy had used on my leg. Furrowing my eyebrows, I looked around for any more information. Everything was where I had last seen it, all the furniture and appliances were all in order. My hand caressed my forehead to feel for a temperature. I was at a normal temperature yet I felt different. I retracted my hand and looked down at my palm as if I was decoding a riddle.

A sound broke the deafening silence that engulfed the room. It was the sound of footsteps echoing off the marble ground in the hallway. My eyes widened, someone was coming. Times like this I wished I could have the power to see through things. Options flooded through my head. I could hide behind the couch I was on, I could pretend to still be unconscious, or I could confront them when they come in. Neither options sounded too good but I had to go with one or the other. Then for some reason, I scolded myself. I was being so overprotective when it's probably just Percy.

Flashbacks of Percy telling me he was going to call someone and tell them about my accident flashed in my head. I shivered; it couldn't be Chiron, could it? The footsteps were getting closer and for the first time ever, I was eternally grateful for the enormous villa and time it took to walk around it. I gave up on all my negative thoughts and shimmied down the couch so I was lying down and covered myself with the duvet. I have the element of surprise if it is someone bad. I closed my eyes just as the person walked in and trotted beside me. I could hear a disapproved grunt that sounded masculine.

"She should have woken up by now," the voice said.

Without a doubt I recognised it to be Percy's. I smiled and he must have seen it because he made a remark about comatose patients smiling. I almost let a laugh slip, almost.

"Well she's not in a coma. She wasn't showing any signs of it. She just needs rest to recover that's all. She'll be back on her feet in no time, Percy," my body stiffened like a plank.

I didn't know that voice… It was masculine like Percy's but I didn't recognise it. Percy must have invited a guy over to look at me by the way the man was talking. He had broken his promise to me. I couldn't help but feel torn that he chose his benefit over mine. A rough noise followed by footsteps which eventually stopped when the mystery man came to a stop beside me. My senses were screaming at me to do something, to move away from him as he approached closer. So when he brought his hand down to cup my cheek, my eyes shot open, I looked dead into his blue eyes and slapped him square across the face.

The boy cursed and stumbled back holding his tainted red cheek. The boy was rather shorter than I anticipated. He was wearing a pair of navy blue jeans which were accompanied by a light yellow button-up shirt. His hair was a mess of blonde curls. His eyes shone a light blue like the sky. His skin was tanned and sun kissed like it had been blessed from Apollo. The boy looked at Percy with shock that seemed to reflect the same emotions before staring at me as if I were an alien.

He looked equally as pissed as me. "Is that how you thank someone who healed you back to health?" he chided.

I glared daggers at him as my own personal defence. However, I hesitantly looked to Percy for confirmation. I needed evidence before I could counter an attack, whatever that may be.

"Annabeth," Percy took a gulp as if sensing my pent-up frustrations, "this is Will. He has been helping you with your recovery." If he could see through me, I wasn't able to tell because he quickly added, "he isn't one of Chiron's colleagues. I know him personally. Chiron doesn't know anything."

My shoulders drooped with relief. I snuggled into the warmth the covers and fire provided. Percy pulled a longue stool that looked like a leather box's excuse of a seat and sat next to me. I wasn't bothered by Percy's sudden affection, I was more focused on interrogating this new person.

"Will?" He nodded in response. "Do you know who we are? What we do for a living?" He slowly nodded becoming weary of my serious facial expressions. He seemed to be accustomed to this already. Maybe he had previous training in the field of law enforcement? "Do you not fear us?" I tilted my head to the side. Normally if a person were to hear that they had met an agent, they would freak out and assume we were after them.

Will was about to open his mouth when Percy butted in. "Annabeth, stop. You're delirious from the pills." I swatted at his incoming hand that clearly wanted to feel my forehead.

"Delirious? Please, I could think twice as much as you could in a sober state," I retorted, I swore I saw him flinch.

Will was getting rather frustrated. "Both of you, for the love of the gods, shut up," Percy and I held our glare but listened to his command. Will pinched the bridge of his nose while he spoke, "Annabeth, I'm aware both of you are agents working with Chiron. No, it does not frighten me because I was an old colleague of his. I'm a nurse who was sent to work for the army in the infirmary department. I quit for personal reasons." I raised an eyebrow at Will but Percy didn't shift his gaze from me. "I no longer work for him so I won't have to report back to him. I'm doing this as a favour for Percy," he patted Percy's shoulder, "any more questions?"

I shook my head with a deep sigh. That surely cleared things up. I mumbled an apology at him and he nodded in acknowledgment. Will stood there awkwardly shifting his weight before deciding to duck into the kitchen out of plain sight, leaving me and Percy to our own.

"I promised you after all," Percy stated looking into my eyes.

I huffed. "So maybe you aren't all that bad. I shouldn't have assumed you turned against me," I shrugged. He smiled at me for the first time since I'd woken up. "Just so we are clear, you saw where I was coming from, right?"

He nodded and I sighed again. All I had been receiving were migraines this entire week. My throat also felt dry, explaining my craving for a cool liquid. I turned myself around on the couch so I was sitting upright and fully facing him. The blankets pooled on my lap and I found myself fiddling with the fabric. I looked up at him before quickly averting my eyes noticing that he'd been staring at me.

I jerked my thumb to the kitchen. "I'm going to go get a drink. I'll be right back."

He bit his lip and looked to the carpet. Taking that as a yes, both of my feet found the ground and pushed me into a healthy posture and carried me halfway across the room (not without a slight limp) before I was rudely interrupted.

"Wait," the softest words collapsed out of Percy's mouth.

I delicately spun on the spot taking care not to put too much weight on my injured leg. My curious eyes trailed across Percy's face which was distinctly conflicted by the creases he got between his eyebrows when he thought too hard. I stood there waiting for him to confront me with whatever it may be that was bothering him but he seemed reluctant to meet my eyes. With one more doubt clouding my mind, my body pulled me towards him.

"Yes…" I started carefully.

He caught my gaze before averting to looking at the corners of the room. It took a rough exhale from his part before he gathered the courage to continue.

"I'm… I—I'm sorry…" He stumbled over his words and pressed his palms into his eyes until removing them to run a hand through his messy hair. With pursed lips it looked like he was struggling to hold something in.

I'd never been the ideal person to come to when it came to feelings. Growing up with a childhood like mine, most would say that it would be understandable. What they never told me until later was it was okay as long as you learn to feel again. I knew I was different since I was young. I'd assumed I would figure out the problem when I grew up and when that never happened, I lost all sense of hope for a brighter future. I've been stuck in that grey area ever since. It's like having your greatest treasures locked up inside, so far away but so close.

My head turned to the side, avoiding any eye contact. Unconsciously, my toes traced patterns on the carpet and I licked my lips. Memories started unfolding before me as I traced and analysed what I'd observed over the years of what other people did in confrontations like this. A group of primary kids sat hunched over a curb fiddling with their fingers and frowns upon their faces. A soft pair of almond eyes consoled a girl whose face was buried in her hands. They spoke in hushed tones and offered her physical support like hugs and gentle squeezes on the shoulder. I don't exactly remember why the girl was upset, I just know that after a few minutes of the comfort of her friends, she felt better. Maybe I could apply the same techniques to Percy.

With a few mental pep talks in my head, I neared my conflicted co-worker.

"It is—it's… okay," I got out noting to keep my voice soft. I placed my hand on his shoulder not without a heartbeat of hesitance and rubbed my thumb over his tense muscles. My curiosity bit me in the moment of peace and I opened my big mouth and asked "why? Are you sorry that is…"

He wiggled out of my hold and my hand hastily retracted as if he were poison. The last thing I needed was to make the situation worse. Shifting my weight from foot to foot kept me entertained for all of seven seconds before I stumbled out my own sorry for whatever discomfort I caused him. His muscles tensed and he looked over his shoulder at me with a taken aback look as if I told him he was destined to die when he turned sixteen. My patience was slowly crumbling. If I was to get him to open up to me, I would have to be fair and do the same, right?

"Okay, I know you… you and I—we have our differences and I know—I know you," at this point my hands were gesturing wildly narrating every word I could've possibly said. "I'm just trying to help you and I would appreciate it if you tried too," I finished sucking in a breath and keeping as still as a plank. It's funny because I could swear we had a similar conversation to this recently…

He nodded and tried to catch my eyes. "Aren't you… angry? Mad? Disappointed in me?" His voice softened at the last sentence.

I couldn't help but be taken aback slightly. Why would there be any reason to feel that was towards him? I made a move to try and question his motives but he cut me off.

"Like, you said that you had a plan then I went a screwed it all up and put you in an awkward position and then when you fell… If I had just listened to you maybe you wouldn't have been in that situation," he stopped to take a breath, "so I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for the consequences of my actions."

My heart was pacing as if I'd run a marathon. I certainly wasn't going to encourage him to continue if he already felt so disturbed. I nodded to show my understanding which seemed to lift some weight off his shoulders. It's funny, ever since Percy flipped into my life, my heart had been going through cycles it hadn't been through ever since I was young. Hell, I would have to sit down for a couple of minutes just to remember last time I was uncomfortable around a boy.

Being the bigger person, I changed the subject to something I had an interest to talk about.

"Hey, so um…" I scratched behind my ear and fiddled with my fingers, "why exactly did Will drop out of the infirmary department in the army?" I questioned folding my arms.

A small grin came to Percy's face. "I don't really think it's my place to tell you everything but let's just say he met someone and decided living in fear for their life wasn't worth it so he left with him."

I nodded. It was nice to know someone had found love, peace and treasure in the cruel midst of war.

* * *

Thinking was a skill I excelled in. Yet when it came to staring at my wall at pictures and notes, things sometimes got a bit complicated. I had pinned the picture and notes up on my wall with pins and used strings to link them to each other, forming a twisted cobweb. A picture linked to a note which linked to another several pictures. Crossing my arms, I stared long and hard at each chain when suddenly heavy footsteps drew me out of thoughts. Percy's head popped around the corner with a grin. My calculating gaze met his excited one.

"Annabeth…" Percy started.

"Percy…" I finished, drawing out his name.

He made his way further into the room and pushed a letter into my hand, leaving my pen to fall to the carpet. I studied the piece of scrunched up paper curiously. It looked rather professionally done which only half scared me. I met his gaze to interrogate his thoughts. He was practically beaming so whatever this letter contained couldn't be bad. I unfolded the letter and read.

 _Dear Miss Annabeth Chase and Mr. Percy Jackson,_

 _I warmly welcome you to a celebration of my thriving research. A scientific bombshell as we know it. This event will be dedicated to the man behind the scenes who started it all, Luke Castellan and many more. We will be acknowledging our success of discovering cells that could be carrying the potential of life. We dearly wish to share this moment with you. Do come along, a good evening is ahead. Till then, we will be waiting to see you there this Friday at 6:00pm, 16_ _th_ _of June._

 _Kind regards,_

 _Titan Industries_

You know that feeling you get when you're standing in front of an audience? The one where everyone is staring at you, concentrated on each and every word that slips from your mouth? That pesky thought in the back of your mind that's screaming at you to do something other than stare in awe at the room filled with people seated waiting to judge your choices for the next two minutes. It's not a nice feeling; it makes you feel powerless, out of control. My stomach lurched and uneasiness swelled in my throat. Another stab from the past was what this letter was.

My eyes passed the paper and stared deeply at the beige carpet. It amused me how interesting the plain carpet suddenly became. The sound of Percy clearing his throat broke my train of thoughts.

"That's the Luke we are investigating, right? This must be the event Chiron was talking about so we're totally going. It sounds so formal, I can't wait to dress up like a Princess," he stated, his eyes danced with mirth. A prominent dimple caught my attention when he smiled.

I produced a sad smile and nodded before brushing invisible dust off my shoulder and stopped uncomfortably swaying back and forth on the balls of my feet. As tempting as it was to raise my face to his, I couldn't risk the chance of seeing him covered in disappointment at my failure to push my demons away and tell him about Luke. He cleared his throat, suddenly losing his excited and bubbly aura. With a sad smile, he left the room leaving the door wide open to my timid figure.

I called out to him, I didn't have enough time on my hands to let him have a guilty pout. He once again popped his head around the corner of the door frame with a raised eyebrow.

"We need to discuss matters on how we can use this to our advantage," I stated firmly, my mind reprogrammed itself into professional mode.

A light scoff left his lips as he dragged his body to the middle of the room beside me. "And how are we going to do that?" He challenged me.

Sensing the doubt in his eyes, I swiftly flipped the letter in my hand where I'd seen the times and dates of the events for the night. My eyes scanned down and landed on the word 'PowerPoint'. I was immediately drawn to the thoughts of computers and technology. He needed software for a PowerPoint and if we could get our hands on it, we just might find some valuable information about this company Luke was associated with.

"Here," I shoved the paper into his hands and pointed at the key term I was thinking of.

* * *

Figuratively, I could not breathe. The venue was breathless in the most beautiful way. I'd never seen such a magnificent work of architecture in my life. It was an old Victorian Castle on the outside and probably some luxury for royalty on the inside. It could have easily been a university at one point. Vines twisted down the façade and a lush green lawn complemented the old bricks.

My grey gown swept over my feet as I collected myself out of the Mercedes. The car was privately owned by Olympus and was only a significant feature of our appearance at the event. I gazed patiently at Percy as he shook the drivers hand and waved as he drove off. Percy turned around to look me up and down as he had before we left our villa with an approving crooked smile.

However fine I may have been, I couldn't even come close to him. He worked a classic button down navy shirt with a dark blazer atop his broad shoulders. Black pants hung at his legs held up by a belt and a simple dark stripped tie hugged his neck and fell to his chest. Percy's tousled hair could be noticed no matter how much time he had put into taming it. A prominent green iris with flecks of blue and sparks of light enthralled me. The dimples of a wide smile broke me out of my fascination.

"See a nice piece of architecture you fancy?" he joked.

The corner of my lips lifted half-heartedly. My nose swelled up and my bottom lip curled out in a pout noticing a tiny flaw in his appearance. He had forgotten to put a tissue in the breast pocket of his blazer. With a quick scavenge among my bag, I successfully retrieved a pocket tissue. A small tug on his sleeve brought him closer to me and I folded the white paper correctly and tucked it into his pocket.

"Thanks," he said with a blinding smile.

I shrugged and focused back on what was most important for the night. "Remember our cover," I reminded him and grabbed the underside of his bicep.

We started a slow pace down the stone footpath and around a garden. "We've been dating for seven months and we met at a bar through our friends. We are here to celebrate Luke's successful business he's starting with Kronos and we are not in the least part against his choices. I'm proud for him and you are too because it…" I paused, looking for the correct word, "pleases you to see me happy," I finished, internally gagging at the cliché aura of it.

He scrunched his eyebrows together and stared at the pebbles that made the path. Without another beat he was nodding to show his understanding. I couldn't help but admire how well he blended with the background. The sky was a fiery orange with beams of yellow stretching across the atmosphere decorating each object with a blush of apricot. The taint of the sun fitted perfectly on his hair and made him all the more attractive because of the simple lighting. I tugged on his arm to bring us to a stop.

"Percy?" I asked to catch his full attention, "be convincing, okay?" He let out a little chuckle before meeting my eyes.

"I, Percy Jackson, promise not to screw up."

I showed my gratitude with a smile and paused for a moment. "C'mon, Seaweed Brain. Let's show them we mean business," I laughed as I dragged him into the start of the night.

* * *

If I thought the outside was breathtakingly beautiful, I was heavily mistaken. The inside looked like it was pasted right out of a fairy tale. Arches supported the vast ceiling that stretched far enough to make a lobby. Two banisters hugged a wide flight of stairs that took the marble floor up a level. The handrail was draped in a velvet red fabric twisting and turning up the rail. The second floor was covered in elegant and formal people discussing amongst each other with the occasional one holding a wine glass in their hand. Waitresses plastered welcoming smiles on their faces' and weaved through the crowd offering each clique a drink. Decorations and streamers hung down and brought colour into the glamourous room if you could call it that because the roof towered a good four stories above. The interior was designed like a church that had gone through modern renovation. An enormous chandler hung by a golden chain that lit up the main area where everyone was.

Of course my gaping had to come to a close when two burly men blocked Percy and I's view. They towered over Percy's height by a foot or two. One was rather plump and the other wore leather gloves to pull off an intimidating look. Looking up to Percy, I found he had a cocky smirk slapped onto his face as if he could take the two men down without any problems. My hand squeezed his arm to try pull him out of his cocky daze which followed by a little protest.

"Hi," I greeted trying to make a good first impression.

"I'm going to need your name and your I.D, please," one of them grunted out with a deep voice.

Nodding my head, I fished through my bag that was strapped over my shoulder and pulled out my wallet then I.D. I handed it to him and he ticked my name off the clipboard he had. He gave it back to me and I carelessly threw it back somewhere in my bag as Percy gave his. Once we were both identified and proven to be on the list, we continued into the celebration.

We weaved through the sea of bodies until we found our own little corner. A few quick glances over the other's shoulders confirmed no one was eavesdropping on us. My fingers reached out to fix his tie which was bending in an odd way and I patted down his blazer letting my hands linger no more than an extra second. Percy swiftly ducked his hands into his pockets and started casually rocking on his feet as he inspected the room.

A waiter twisted their way to us and offered each of us a glass and a sample of their new Lotus Flower which we both politely declined. We had to remain sober throughout this if we were to succeed. Narrowing my eyes at my watch I determined the time to be 6:25pm. We had fifty-five minutes before the dinner started which would be followed by the presentation an hour after. Percy and I had planned to get to the computer room where everything was being set up before the large feast.

This time a waitress made her way between us with a polite 'excuse me' but before she could continue her beeline to wherever I tapped her on the shoulder. She immediately froze and snapped her head back with a smile. She asked if she could help us to which I explained that we were looking for Luke Castellan to discuss business. The woman shook her head and told us Luke was busy and promising us we would see him at the dinner. With that she disappeared into the horde of bodies.

Tugging on Percy's arm he ducked his head down so it was level with mine and close enough to whisper in his ear. "Do you think now is a good time to scout the place?" I questioned.

His eyes danced through the crowd before falling back on mine. "I think now is good," he replied.

I bit my lip, looked over my shoulder once and gently pushed him away and started for a small hallway off into the corner. Percy followed quickly behind me with a charming smile remembering our cover. I looked up to him as I walked and let out a giggle to convince the crowd we were a reckless couple looking for somewhere quieter. When we were far from the main event I made quick inspections. The hallway looked much like the main room. Marble floors with a velvet fur rug stretched to the end. Oil paintings hung over the cream coloured walls. A couple power outlets were randomly placed around and like every other place in the building, a golden chandelier lit up the corridor.

Spinning on my heels I faced Percy. "See any wire connections?" I asked even though I knew the answer.

"No," he frowned. "Any ideas which way the room is?"

Thinking about it logically, the presentation would be held on a stage at the end of the room everyone was feasting in, kind of like a wedding reception. It had to be somewhere above, underneath, behind or beside that stage. It would make sense to check upstairs and then check the main level while coming down. Making my way further down the corridor I heard a set of footsteps coming in our direction. Percy and I made eye contact and a sudden understanding came between us. This is where our cover came in handy.

Without wasting another beat, I pulled Percy close by his tie and kept my lips teasingly near his and let out a little chuckle. I felt his hands come up to hold my waist as he leaned in and I leaned out to avoid kissing. I didn't want to take it that far just to fake it and besides, it was still believable enough. This was the ideal position of a couple being caught, so whoever caught us wouldn't think we were snooping around. A shocked gasp made me feign surprised and quickly shove Percy away to further our act.

Now I certainly did not expect to know the person walking in on us. My expectations were set on some bodyguard coming to escort us out into the main room, so when I saw the familiar sandy blond swept hair and a pair of striking blue eyes, I practically jumped out of my body. That all too real scar that reached from his bottom eyelid all the way down to his square jaw. It was only until I felt Percy's hand on my shoulder did I snap out of my trance and close my mouth which had been hanging open.

"Wow," were his first words to me in no more than six years.

"Yeah, wow," I replied with hatred and disgust laced in my voice. "You're looking healthy, Luke," I flatly stated and crossed my arms across my chest.

He smirked with that cocky shine in his eyes. "I think the word you are looking for is 'wealthy', but yes, healthy too."

A light snort could be heard behind me. Percy obviously thought this was some sort of insult game. I rolled my eyes at his childishness.

"Who is your friend?" He frowned.

Percy stepped forward and offered his hand to shake. "Percy Jackson," he said while his hand continued hanging in the air.

Luke scrunched his nose up in disgust. "I'm not shaking your hand, Jackson. God only knows where that's been," his eye flicked to mine for the quickest second. Percy awkwardly nodded and let his hand fall to his side. By the shifting of his weight I could tell he felt embarrassed.

"Name is Luke Castellan, by the way," said Luke scoffing at Percy's unintelligible actions. "So… Long-time no see, Chase."

"I wonder why," I all but spat back.

Luke smiled at me as if he were amused by a child. "You see, I would say you are looking great but after what I just saw, it kind of got ruled out…" Guilt washed over me and a satisfied smirk lay upon his face. "Now, why are you here?"

I made a quick mental note to act calm and collected. He could not suspect in the least that we were up to anything.

"Your assistant invited me after he found a picture of us in your room on a desk," I stated. It was true, Chiron told us while we were on the phone talking to him about our plans for the night. "I must say, it intrigues me that you keep something like that so safe. I don't suppose you have any good excuses?" I cocked a challenging eyebrow at him.

He scowled and squinted his eyes at me as if he were solving a _Rubik's Cube_. "I'll assume Nakamura spotted that dropping something off for me to my apartment and predicted we stay in touch. I barely even go there anymore; I practically live in my office. Don't be disappointed that that picture was only there because I haven't bothered to go and refurbish it. The fool clearly got the wrong idea and put word in of your name to the guest list."

A calculating gaze formed on my face, my eyebrows knitted themselves together and my bottom lip stuck out. Luke would always speak in metaphors when I was younger whether it was because he didn't want me to understand what he was saying or he wanted me to pick up on the strategy. Times like this made me wonder if it influenced me. I'd stay up for weeks trying to collect the puzzle pieces together when he spoke in cryptic messages until it came to the point I had to shove my pride aside and beg him to explain what he'd meant a month later. Seeing him now only made me wonder how much he had changed, or lack thereof.

I wasn't sure when, but at some point during the confrontation, my head had drooped to the ground and hung in fear of falling apart and letting my emotions get the better of me. My lips parted and my throat twisted into knots so that no words came out. What was one meant to say to a former friend? And that scar, that all too familiar scar. A rough tear of flesh that haunts my dreams ever since that one night.

Gentle fingers brushed the small of my back and tugged lightly on my dress. The strange action gave me an odd boost of courage.

"We'll be going now. Best wishes."

I stormed away with Percy at my tail. We had to go about this another way.

* * *

 **A/N: So this chapter had A LOT of variations so it took quite a while to pick the final one. Because I'm trying not to rush through it but not move too slow, I decided to have less action in this but more relationship building and character development. Before you go on life threatening death missions with someone, you should at least know their favourite colour, right?**

 **I'd also like to address that in this story, I want to explore a more realistic side of Annabeth's past from the books. However since this is set in an AU (Alternate Universe) I want to play around with how the adaptation would appear. Since Percy did not come into her life at 12 (like in the books) she never had that support and growth from a young age so she grew up differently, if that makes sense. So I should be covering my outtake on her past in this story and how that affects her in the present.**

 **Now because of the new approach of her past in this story, things may get deep as in changing the rating to a M... I am not sure. I will try my very best to keep it at a solid T. If it does go a bit overboard, however, I will change it to a M.**

 **Thank you so much for reading! Be sure to review, recommend, follow, favourite and all that good stuff. ;)**

 **-GiftFromTheSkies**


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